Michael the Jogger
Oct 29, 2026
After the idea of signing up for the Festival Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving came to me ‘like a hurricane’ (as I explained to Austin), I began reflecting on my life of running which has included a few marathons and multiple other races. Miles and miles have I run. And, in the most recent years of running, I leaned heavily on God to carry me thru.
I am not going to get into long-distance running again. It is too much stress to the body. However, this is going to help me in my ‘keto adaption’ and help me to become lean again. It will also strongly help my ambitions at participating in trail hiking and backpacking.
When I arrived home last night, I couldn’t wait to take an evening walk (with 30 second running intervals) in one of my favorite spots: the Riverside Cemetery off of Algoma Blvd in Oshkosh, WI. It is this place that was featured in my Documentary and has great meaning for me.
At one time in my life (1996 or so), running and the cabbage soup diet caused me to lose excessive pounds and hit a weight of 165 lbs. Inevitably, this was too low for me and I had to gain 20 lbs of muscle to compete in the 1997 Chicago Marathon and hit my PR of 4 hr 15 min. It was all God’s doing. He gave me the tools to use and I used them (for the most part). Having an image disturbance from a past abuse, I may have taken things a little too far (bulimic behavior) but things have changed.
Today, I’m ready to repeat what worked 30 years ago but have a much stronger relationship with God and the Saints. It is, in fact, already done. I just have to be patient and continue doing the work.
