An Open Letter to Brad,

I believe it may have been last year in which you ran a mile for every year of living for your birthday.  I always that was a very cool way to celebrate your birthday.

This past Wednesday I celebrated my 55th birthday and I had been considering a running related feat to celebrate my birthday for awhile.

The month of August was disappointing because I was enduring injuries and striving to recover from them.  I changed my approach for the fall to running as a long term preparation for 2014.

My long runs were generally at most 8 miles.  Within a week of my birthday, I knew what I wanted to do.  To see how far I could run on the Saturday after my mid-week birthday.  I shared my plans with 2 runner friends who work in another state and my DW.  The runner friends were supportive, and my DW's primary concern was just don't kill myself.  

I planned a 3.8 mile loop run around a local high school neighborhood and to see how many times that I could complete the route.  Afterwards, I would attend to some yard work and then watch the Auburn - Georgia college football game.

Well, I ran the loop 4x and during the 4th loop my body was strongly suggesting that's enough jump in mileage from previous long runs.  So I ran 15.2 miles.  To others, it represents a walk in the park.  For me, it affirmed a monumental progress from a wheezing 52 year old who could only run 40 seconds and had to take a walk break.

Because your birthday inspiration planted the seed for this achievement, I dreamed to try.

Thanks.

Rich

BTW, the second miracle of the day, was this improbable play by Auburn to beat Georgia.

Congratulations and Happy Birthday!