It's Not Always About How Fast You Go

 Today I am 186.8 pounds of rolling thunder.

Sometimes it's amazing how different two siblings can be.

Take for example my two sons. Last weekend we went to the final cross country meet of the high school season. The day was crisp and clear and the track was rolling and wet from showers the evening before the race.

A year ago, we were at the same race and both boys were running. Over the course of four years our older son willed himself to become a runner with respectable times. His form was never textbook, but he was so determined to decrease his time that how he ran the race really never mattered much.

Son No.2 is cut from different cloth. He's out there giving it his all but times don't matter nearly as much. But that's OK. As parents, we're all about the exercise and camaraderie that comes with being involved in a team sport like cross country. Our only rules are you start -- you finish.

So on this fine October day we took our normal places alongside the course and watched as the runners went by. In many ways there is nothing better than watching athletes run around a beautiful course that is adorned by the colorful changing of the leaves.

Son No.2 kept his normal choppy plodding pace around the course. He made it through the finish line at a trot and then headed off to gather up his gear for the ride home.

Sure, his times could be faster. But you know what, he's still well ahead of me, the world's slowest human. But I know we both benefit from being out there moving our bodies.

So the next time you see the world's slowest human plodding along some roadside, give me a wave!

Today I am 188.6 pounds of rolling thunder.

Snow is a word I had hoped not to use for another month or so, but here we are in mid-October and the temperatures have dipped into the low 40s. A check with our friends on Facebook tells me that snow has rolled across eastern Colorado and into western Kansas.

Fortunately, there is no call for snow in my forecast, but the thought of a misty, cold run after work today doesn't sound all that inviting.

Darn it all. Wasn't it just May when the last snowfall swept through the area turning spring back into winter one last time? Winter had overstayed its welcome then and it just might do it again.

If this sounds like the musing of a running wimp, well they are. I'm sort of a cold weather wimp, but I do like to get my run in so it might be time to find the tights and bundle up.

Plus, I've got some motivation. I finally bit the bullet and bought an UP to track my fitness efforts.

For those of you not familiar with the Up from Jawbone, it's a wristband device that tracks your movement and sleep. And, of course, it comes with an app that displays your data, lets you add things like meals and mood, and delivers insights that keep you moving forward.

And, of course, to make the app run I needed a cellphone upgrade. So being a runner, I decided to upgrade the phone as well so I could actually run the app that turns the UP on. Confused? Let's just say it was an excuse to add more gizmos to my already cluttered life.

So after wrestling the UP from its tightly sealed packaging I put it on and started the day off counting steps and calories. o far, 2,272 steps taken and 1,054 calories burned. I'm feeling healthier already, and I'm also sensing pie in my future.

Hopefully, there is an app to shake the wimp from my system and get me back out on the road. How shameful would it be for the world's slowest human not to hit the streets when he's got a new UP to tell him where he's going?