I Must Run

I must run. I have no choice. It began on a Thursday afternoon in early February of 1999. My vision had been blurred for two weeks; my other symptoms were extreme hunger and thirst, and other odd goings on with my body, which finally compelled me to make an appointment to see a doctor. On the same day as my doctor’s appointment my sister called to tell me that my dad had died earlier that morning. I needed to make plane reservations and get there (Portland, Oregon) as soon as I could the next morning. As thoughts of my father and his death were running through my mind I faintly heard my doctor inform me that I had Type II diabetes and that everything in my life had to change. He said, “This is a serious disease and you must make lifestyle changes immediately as well as begin a rigorous regime of medication.” So my diet, my exercise habits, my stress management, everything, according to him, seemed to be affected by this disease. Now I needed to monitor my blood sugar levels and prevent the consequences that would inevitably result if I didn’t take care of myself. As you can imagine, having blurred vision for a book editor is one scary symptom. I often read two or more books a week and many emails, manuscripts, and proposals. I wasn’t in shock by the juxtaposition of these two traumatic events, but I was close to it. So now I had to begin running every day to monitor my diabetes and maintain my physical and mental health.

Races became the way I motivated myself to run regularly and the way I began to build a community of runners that could also push me along. The joy of racing and doing that activity with friends increases every year.