Introduction

Greetings and salutations. Welcome to the first official post of what I hope will be many by yours truly, Burger a.k.a. the LA Runner.

I was inspired to start this blog during a 6-mile run last night. Most ideas come to me while running. Some better than others. I was mainly reflecting on how far I had come.

Around this time last year, I was in the middle of 'preparing' to run my first official race, the then Pacific Shoreline half marathon (13.1 miles). I use quotes because I really had no idea how to prepare. All I knew at the time was that it would be further than I had ever run up until that point and that was more than enough to make a man hyperventilate. More on this next post.

2 years ago, I ran short sprints to just relieve stress because...

3 years ago, I was a pack a day smoker.

Officially it has been about 2 years and 3 months since my last cigarette, or 817 days. I gave up cigarettes on Halloween of 2005 for reasons I will delve into later. Up until that point, I was a smoker for about 12 years. I started when I was 16-17 years of age because I was impressionable and could easily succumb to peer pressure. I am 30-years old now. I like to think that I've grown up some since then.

I'm not sure what I hope to accomplish with this. Sure, I can use it as a way to log and track my progress. Or to share with a small audience the random ideas that come to me during my training runs.

But if I'm honest, there's a small part of me that hopes to inspire someone - anyone - to get off their keester and shed the sedentary lifestyle that plagues so many of us Americans. Maybe you're a smoker who's been longing to quit. Or a couch potato whose spare tire is getting bigger with each passing day. Or maybe you've been dealt a tragic loss in your life (like myself) and you're looking for a way to honor their memory.

Until recently, I never got it. In fact, I used to laugh at it. People running. For what? From whom? Seemed pointless. Exhausting. Repetitive. BORING.

Somewhere along the way, it just happened. I just got it. I found bliss, immense satisfaction and therapy in running. Through sweating. From running miles and miles. Can't really articulate it better than that.

I'm not exactly breaking world records out there - far from it. I'm just trying to be the best runner I can be. The best person I can be.

This is my hope - and that at some point, I'll see you out there with me.