Dec. 9, 2018 – Washington Co., WI – Today I completed 24 years, 343 days of not missing a day of running. Saturday I talked about some of the dangers of running every day for 25 years.
In this blog, I am going to talk about how much I enjoy running with others.
Jay Shambeau asked me on Thursday if I like running alone or with others. I always prefer someone being with me on my runs. I wore out a running stroller taking each of my four kids. As soon as the kids could ride a bike, they would bike along me while I ran. It was a great time for the kids to tell me everything that happened at school that day.
As the kids got older they did not enjoy always having to run with dad; it became a chore. Sometimes it would end like this, “I ran with him three days ago and you haven’t run with him yet this week, it’s your turn.” Often times I would leave, and the child with the most guilt would catch up with me on their bike and purposely not talk. I told them “either you talk to me now or you have to run with me again tomorrow.” Then they would suddenly have plenty to say.
It was great when they started running with me. At first I would have to slow down for them and soon they were blowing me away. Although each of the kids are very good runners, only Max and Maddie ever ran track or cross country. It makes me feel a bit insignificant that Maddie will ride her bike along side of me because she doesn’t love running, but could run under a six-minute mile tomorrow if she needed to. Jack has completed in half marathons and Drew did a marathon this past fall. I think one of the reasons I have not missed a day is that my average of 2.5 is just enough to stay in shape but not enough to wear out my body.
I did do something a little out of the box a few months ago when I was asked by my friend Doug to do a Tough Mudder. At first I wondered why I would jeopardize my streak by pounding my body with a 10-mile run and numerous insane obstacles. But then I thought, if I try to protect myself and play it safe and not succumb to Doug’s peer pressure, I would probably end up tripping on a regular curb and breaking my leg. I completed the Mudder doing every obstacle except the electric shock. The 10-mile run was the easy part.
Today I ran with Nicole Gulatz who is with the American Red Cross of Wisconsin. We started the run from the Eighth Avenue Fire Station. The Red Cross provides smoke detectors to the fire stations and Nicole explained to me many of the local Red Cross services are provided to victims of fires.
I usually do the interviewing during the run but Nicole turned the tables on me. She asked me if my family had a plan in case of a fire. I told her we had a two-story house and actually had a rope available on the second story in case of a fire. She told me the average family has about two minutes to exit the house in the event of a fire.
When I got home I talked to my wife and daughter about the two minutes. We talked about perhaps getting a rope ladder instead of a rope and we realized we should spend some time discussing a new plan. Besides doing everything possible to prevent fires and provide relief to people that suffer from fires, Nicole says the Red Cross is always in need of more volunteers.
After the run we both were given a tour of the Fire Station by Kenny Asselin, who serves as the Captain of Fire Prevention. It gave me the opportunity to meet Kenny for the first time. Kenny serves as an adjunct faculty for Moraine Park Technical College and regularly gets rave reviews for his instruction. Kenny and Nicole work together to get the word out about smoke detectors and fire prevention.
Sunday was definitely the fastest of the first four runs. Nicole is an avid runner who often races in half marathons.
Shane Oppermann from Alexssa joined us for the second day in a row.
Monday, Dec. 10 at 7 a.m. we run at the Family Center of Washington County. See you then.
Click HERE to read more about Pete Rettler and the 25 Runs of Gratitude for United Way of Washington County.
To date Pete Rettler’s 25 Runs of Gratitude have benefited the Boys & Girls Club, Interfaith Caregivers of Washington County, Easterseals SE WI, and the American Red Cross SE WI.
