4 Years & 11 Marathons Later....

By Ross Forman

Four years ago almost to the day, I went to an information meeting for the National AIDS Marathon Training Program (NAMTP). John Beach, who lived in Chicago at the time and has since moved to Las Vegas, ran the hour-long session, held in Evanston, Ill.

The thought of running a 26.2-mile marathon was intriguing at the time, but I never truly thought I could run one. However, I knew others who had run marathons, so they were part of my motivation. My thinking was: if they could do it, so could I.

I ultimately registered with the NAMTP and was determined to start and, more important, finish the Florence (Italy) Marathon on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, 2007, which was my first-ever marathon.

I did just that.

Well, it’s now Running Season once again in Chicago and I’m back running along Chicago’s lakefront, but with a slight twist.

I am now Coach Ross for the Team To Ends AIDS (T2), arguably the best charity-driven marathon training program in the city.

Eleven marathons later, I sure have come a long way since that meeting in Evanston … John and I still joke about that meeting to this day.

I’m part of the T2 Coaching Staff, focused on the finish-line for others. T2 runners will be hitting the course in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, the Honolulu Marathon and the Chicago Half Marathon. And I’m really looking forward to helping the T2 runners reach their goals and beyond.

It was a 4-mile run this past Saturday and Sunday for the T2 runners, and they certainly braved Mother Nature’s wrath as the temperature was in the mid-40s, with stiff wind and rain. Not too fun to be outside, but there we were, starting at Foster Avenue and heading south along the lakefront path.

Hopefully the T2 runners are having fun because Coach Ross certainly is.

And I’m not just a coach in title. I am certified by USA Track & Field, as are all T2 coaches. (I can’t wait to get my official certification in the mail, which I will frame and will share it in a future post.)

I’m running my next marathon on Sunday, Sept. 25, when I head north of the border for the annual Montreal Marathon. Can’t wait as I look to surpass my Personal Record (PR), set at the Tel Aviv Marathon on April 8. So yes, that means more Insanity workouts with Shaun T starting in late-July, which is about the time I’ll be wrapping up my current cycle of P90X.

If anyone is considering the health and fitness offerings from Team Beachbody, such as P90X, Insanity and its once-a-day meal-replacement Shakeology, go for it. They work!

I of course want to set a new PR in Montreal, but also want to see my all-time favorite hockey player: Yvan Cournoyer, who played his entire Hall of Fame career for the Montreal Canadiens and now serves as an official ambassador for the team.

And how fitting it would be … Ross The Runner in Montreal with the Montreal icon nicknamed, “The Roadrunner.”

Can’t wait for summer to get here in full,
Ross.

P.S. For my current favorite song, see below.