Henry Ward

Hello, my name is Henry Ward, and am a recovering alcoholic and addict and also an ultrarunner. I have been in recovery since November 17, 2008. I have been married to my beautiful wife for 16 years, and we have an adorable nine year old son. I am a chef by trade and I love to run. But this so-called normal life wasn’t always the case.

You see, for 22 years, I abused drugs and alcohol. I should be dead. I had numerous drug and alcohol-related arrests. I almost lost my family. I almost lost my life. So the biggest challenge of my life came when I had to finally admit my addiction and seek help. I made one of the best decisions in my life and I checked myself into Valley Hope Tempe, and have been sober ever since. That was November 2008.

Running has been critical in my recovery. I’ve been sober since November 2008 and it wasn’t until 2013 that I found running. Although I know deep down inside I will never use or drink again, I still had a void in my life that needed to be filled. The two years leading up to May 2013 when I found running I was becoming a squirrely mess. I had no hobbies. I had a lot of built-up energy inside they needed to release. Once I found running I found my new addiction. Though I wasn’t drinking or using, I became restless, and sort of a dry drunk. I knew I needed to do something.

When I discovered running in May 2013, my life drastically changed for the better once again. Running helps me live life on life’s terms. When I start the day with a run the whole day seems to flow better. An afternoon run can help burn off the craziness of a busy workday. I’ll take this running addiction over the days and all the madness of my alcohol and drug addiction years. I am living proof that second chances matter. I am on a mission to pay it forward. I want to help others receive treatment. I want to expose them to a whole new world of clarity and optimism. I’m passionate about fighting addiction and serving those living in recovery. I honestly believe that you can do anything you want to do. Sometimes you need help, treatment, guidance, and therapy. The first step is to want to change.

Being an addict, there is no cure. I have to be careful of being too obsessive, and wanting more, more, more. I think it is important to be hungry, and progressive, but with that can come a cost. The most important thing for me is taking care of myself. The 1st thing I learned in recovery is that I have to take care of myself 1st. If I do not take care of myself, I cannot take care of anyone else. I cannot not take care of a job,I cannot take care of our home. Running is self care for me, but in the same breath if I run too much, I will distance myself from my family, and I will take away from family time. Family is the 2nd most important thing to me. I would be nothing without them. They are my world. Physically if I run 150 miles a week, constantly race, I will break down. I know that. I need to cross train, and build myself to last. I want to be running when I am 80! I need to have crazy goals, I just cannot have tooooo many of them be running goals. As they say in recovery, “one is too many, and 1000 is not enough.” I need to pick my battles, choose my events wisely. I am well aware that I am a work in progress, and sometimes I need to be reminded by my wife that I need to cut back the miles, or that I need a rest day or days. I’ll take this running addiction over the active addiction years 100% of the time.