Happy Birthday Daddy!!

I\’m dedicating this blog post to my daddy because it is his birthday today!!! If you see him today, make sure you tell him he doesn\’t look a day over 30! 😉 
I have to take this grand opportunity to tell you, once again, how wonderful my dad is. He\’s been my number one supporter since day one and he has always encouraged me to follow my dreams and do what makes me happy. 

My dad has always stressed the importance of exercise. Ever since I was little, I remember him making it a priority and trying to encourage us to do the same. When I was real little, I would go with my dad on runs all the time. It was never more than like two miles at a time, but boy did I feel like a serious runner! As I got older though, I didn\’t like running very much anymore, especially when I had to go more than two miles at a time. I turned to swimming, and even though my dad knew little to nothing about swimming at the time, he was very supportive and went to almost all of my swim meets. When I first starting swimming I thought I was a breastroker. Not because I was really any good at it, but because I liked it the best. My dad always said he thought I was a backstroker since I looked so smooth when I swam it. I never believed him, but now I know backstroke is my best stroke and my dad will never let me forget who was the first one to tell me! I know he didn\’t always enjoy going to my swim meets, but it really made me happy to have him and my mom there to support me.

My dad has also gone the last 11 years without missing a day of exercise which I think is pretty darn incredible. With all the excuses out there now a days like \”I\’m too tired to work out,\” or \”I\’m just too busy,\” etc. etc. it can be easy to find any reason not to exercise. My dad is a freaking doctor who sometimes has to work around the clock and HE still manages to find time to work out every day. The only excuse is between your ears! I think it is so admirable that my dad leads by example, and even though I\’m not keeping track of how many consecutive days of exercise I have, I know it is has been quite some time since I haven\’t worked out. I give the credit to my dad because he\’s the one who has always reminded me to get out and exercise, even if it\’s just to go for a walk. Doing something is better than nothing, and the healthier you are, the longer you will be around! 

He has always encouraged me to do what I love, even if it seems silly or crazy. Ever since I was little, I\’ve wanted to be a writer. There were times where I would lock myself in my room for hours writing stories, and often I would give some of the stuff I wrote to my dad to read. Although he never said I should drop everything and get it published (like I wanted to hear :P) he did encourage me to keep writing and gave me several pointers on how to make it better. One of the main reasons I started writing this blog was because my dad also has a blog, and he said this was a great way to practice writing and just spend some time doing something I enjoyed doing. I\’m glad I took him up on his advice, because so far I have had a lot of fun putting this blog together!

One of the things I love the most about my dad, is that he knows that I get in my own head way more than I should. He knows how to talk me out of my own funk and make me feel better. One example of this is when we ran my first half marathon together earlier this year. Leading up to it, I would always text my dad saying I wasn\’t sure if I was going to be ready for it or not. Even though I was running a few times a week, and putting in the longer runs I was supposed to, I wasn\’t sure I could run the whole thing. And if I could run the whole thing without stopping, I wasn\’t sure how fast I could go. He continuously told me that we were going to run it at my pace, because he didn\’t care what time he did his in, he just wanted us to finish. He gave me a goal time to finish the race faster than 2 1/2 hours, which he said would be very doable at the pace I wanted to go. Well I was feeling pretty good in the days leading up to the race, but when the alarm went off at 3 am the morning of the race, it suddenly hit me that I had to go run 13.1 miles and I started bawling. I asked my dad if it was too late to change my mind, because I didn\’t want to do it anymore. He said I was being ridiculous and that I have spent all this time training and I couldn\’t give up now. We were going to go nice and easy, and if I had to stop, it wouldn\’t be the end of the world. The only goal was to cross the finish line. I put my big girl pants on and got myself out to the starting line. I was shaking the whole time not only because it was cold, but because I was so nervous. Looking back, I\’m not really sure why I was so nervous, because it turned out to be so much fun! I did run the whole thing, besides stopping to use the bathroom around the 5K mark. I did not break 2 1/2 hours like I had wanted to, instead coming in at 2:42. It wasn\’t a great time, but I finished the race and I had fun doing it with my dad. I already told him I want to do another one with him, but he has to get my butt moving a little faster so I can beat 2 1/2 hours. I can\’t believe I\’m saying this, but I look forward to running more races with my dad!

Anyways, I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful birthday daddy and know that I love you so so much!!! I’m bummed I can’t be home for your day, but I can’t wait for Christmas where I’ll be home for a whole week!! We’ll have to use the birthday gift I got you and treat ourselves to some Caribou Coffee! (If you haven’t gotten your present yet, act surprised!) Love you and see you soon!

Until Next Time 🙂

Megan Reiffenberger