Guest Runner Post -- Coach B's Life-changing Moment

Sole Sister V plants one on the coach. 

Everybody has moments in their lives that shape their future, that define the person that they will become.
My moment came when I was 30 years old, sitting in an examination room, and watching my doctor read over some results a nurse had just handed her.
It’s never a good thing when your doctor looks at your test results and says, “Whoa.” My doctor actually said “Whoa.”
As in “Whoa, your cholesterol is 240.”
Cholesterol is natural. Everyone has it, and it’s necessary for cells to function properly in your body. The problems arise when there is too much of it in your bloodstream. And too much of it is a level above 200.
Basically, my doctor told me, I had the trifecta of bad cholesterol tests: my good cholesterol was low, my bad cholesterol was high, and my triglyceride levels, which should have been below 150, were well above 400.
What all this meant was that I was creating the perfect conditions for plaque to build up in my arteries and choke the blood supply, significantly raising my risk of a stroke or heart attack.
My mortality is not something that I handle well. My first thought was “Oh my gosh, I’m going to die.” My second thought was “Hell no, I’m not going to die.”
On that day, almost 15 years ago, Coach B was born. 

Turning for the homestretch at Churchill's Half Marathon.

Exercise isn’t the only solution for high cholesterol. Diet is equally important and, in some cases, statins need to be used to help the body lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol. For years, I was on Lipitor, and I’m a believer in it. It did what it was advertised to do.
But, without a doubt, I know that running saved my life. The day after that doctor’s office visit, I stepped on a treadmill for the first time in years. I didn’t go far. I don’t remember exactly how far I could run, but I know it was probably only about a mile. It was the first mile of thousands and thousands that I have run since.

These are just some of the running shoes lurking in our closets.

I’ve run seven marathons and four half-marathons since stepping on that treadmill. Sometimes people ask me “Why.” I simply answer “Because I can.”
So many people tell me they can’t run because they are too overweight or their knees are too bad or they don’t have the time. Well, the simple truth is that yes, you can. You put one step in front of the other, and maybe tomorrow you go farther than today. You commit to changing your life. It doesn’t matter how fast you go or how far you go. The point is just that you go.
Each week I’m going to check in with some advice and training tips. Some days the topic might deal with getting started and living a healthier life, another day might tackle how to bring down your marathon PR.
I am a runner. Join me on my journey.

-- Coach B

The Dugger family runners.

“It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who's actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion and spends himself in a worthy cause; who best knows at the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that this place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” - Teddy Roosevelt