The Heart of Rock ‘n’ Roll

Before you even ask, yes, that’s my real hair. I can’t tell you how many times someone tried to pull the wig off my head only to discover that the hair was connected to my scalp. OUCH.

I don’t know for sure, but my best guess is that this was taken in 1968 or 69. I know that it was taken at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house at Millikin University. The group was called “The Power Company” and we were – I say modestly – the hottest rock and roll band in Macon County, Illinois. We had a great singer who was a cross between Lou Rawls and Ike Turner backed up by a bunch of college kids that – for the most part – had never heard of Sam and Dave, let alone Buddy Miles. But the work was steady and the gigs fun. At 19 I didn’t need much else.

My life was Rock ‘n’ Roll. I lived it. Breathed it. Performed it. I was a rock star. Or, at least as much of a rock star as you can be in Macon County. I thought that Rock ‘n’ Roll would be my life forever. I was wrong. The hair is gone. The horn is gone. The button-fly pants are LONG gone. But now, after a 40 year hiatus, I’m BACK.

This year I’ll be at 14 of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon series events. I’m headed to Phoenix on Thursday for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona. At the end of February we’ll be hosting the first Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans. Then it’s off to Dallas, Nashville, San Diego, Seattle, and more. This year is shaping up to be the most exciting series of races EVER, and I’ll be there on the microphone at the start. I’m looking forward to greeting many of you as you run down your dreams.

Like just about everyone, I’m trying to figure out my own running goals for 2010. I’ve mentioned before that I’ve gotten stuck doing shorter runs and races. Some of it is just a function of time. Being gone so many weekends makes it tough to do the long runs on Saturday or Sunday. I suppose I could do them during the week, but I don’t like the idea.

So, I’ve been focusing on shorter distances and – yes – speed. Not so much speed for speed’s sake but the speed that comes from running more efficiently. By the way, I’ve never told anyone that running fast is bad. It’s not. There’s almost nothing that feels as good as running, or walking, at a pace that raises your heart rate and makes you breath hard. It’s just that I get that feeling while running at a 10:30 pace not a 6:30 pace.

What I’ve been trying to do is break the “every run is a long, slow run” habit. You know what I mean? I’d get out the door, walk for a few minutes, start to run slowly with the plan that I’ll pick up the pace as the run goes on and then – well – I just don’t. I start slowly and find myself having so much fun that I just keep running slowly.

Latley, though, I’ve been mixing it up more and feeling better about it. My body is beginning to remember what it feels like to move faster. My feet are beginning to remember what it feels like to move faster. And it’s a good feeling.

My first goal is to run a 5K in under 30 minutes. I haven’t done that in years. My quiet goal is to run a 10K this year in under an hour. That’s going to take a lot of work, but I think it’s a goal I can achieve.

And who knows, maybe I’ll have so much fun that I’ll decide that I want to run a Rock ‘n’ Roll event.

Waddle on, friends.

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist
Author, The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

Have a question for John? E-mail it to thepenguin@johnbingham.com.

“The miracle isn’t that I finished.
The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”