A Running Commentary

Late in 2001, I started running, after several years of general inactivity. It was a frustrating process; my legs didn't have much of a problem (I had lost 30 pounds over six months, and carrying my suddenly-lighter frame was surprisingly easy), but I was nine months removed from a pack-a-day smoking habit, and I would have to cut runs short because I was gasping for air. I tried to stick to it, but the running program ended after three weeks, when I sprained my foot on some uneven pavement.
This attempt at running is meeting with similar results. I'm better at controlling my breathing; even when my chest sounds like a blast furnace, I can breathe evenly, and this encourages me to ignore my burning quads and push on. Unfortunately, the sure sign that I still lack the cardiovascular fitness for longer runs is the lightheadedness. Seeing spots = time to stop.
Tonight's run is scheduled for 11:00, when the temperature should only be in the low 80s. I just have to remind myself how much I love this place in the winter.

Back off the horse

Tonight's run, which was meant to be a little over two miles, included one stop for "sniffing," and ended just before the two-mile mark, when Ginny refused to run any further. I considered unhooking the leash and letting her trot home, but we were still a little too close to the highway, and I was feeling a little lightheaded myself, so we got a quarter-mile or so to cool down. "Cool," of course, is a relative term around here.
The running journal is a little light on entries. In my defense, I have been playing softball twice a week, and Frisbee once a week, so it's not like I'm sitting on my duff playing Halo all day. However, I said I'd be running, and here I am, showing off my lack of progress to the entire blogosphere (or, at least, the portion of said sphere that reads this blog, a number rumored to be in the low two digits). Well, softball season is over, and my high school reunion is in ten days, so it's time to wear out those Asics. If you don't see new entries in the journal this week, it means I've suffered a stroke or been hit by a car.

An Excerpt from "Steve Allen's Advice to Marty"

I have been asked how an "indoor" runner can make the transition to outdoor running. It's not an invalid question. After all, outdoors can be a scary place - it's bright, it's noisy, and (perhaps most importantly) it's not at all climate-controlled. If you're used to the treadmill or the elliptical, it might be best to ease into things. Here, then, is my advice:

• For your first outdoor foray, pick a day (or at least a time) with weather you like. I happen to like running in the rain (though not hard rain), but you might not. If the temperature is in the upper 90s with 70% humidity, consider waiting until evening. Not everyone has the time flexibility that I do, but there's no reason to let a case of heat exhaustion sour you permanently on running.
• Also, pick a place conducive to running. It can be around your neighborhood, but if you live on a street with a 55 mph speed limit and no sidewalks (as I used to), find a park. If there's a local school with a track that's open to the public, that's ideal.
• If you're running from your house, plan a shorter route than you've been running indoors. On a treadmill, if you get tired, or start cramping, or your ankle hurts, you can just stop. If you run two miles away from your house, that's two miles you have to go back, so play it safe. There's nothing wrong with having to stop and walk, but it feels better to know you've run the whole way.
• On a treadmill or (especially) elliptical machine, your stride length is limited. Not so outdoors; try to lengthen your strides. Longer strides = done sooner!
• Watch out for traffic. They probably see you, but you are moving faster than a normal pedestrian, and that sometimes throws people off.
• Watch out for bicycles; they're looking for cars, too, and are much more likely than cars to assume traffic laws (like stop signs) don't apply to them.
• At some point, tell yourself you will run outside at least twice a week, and hold yourself to it. You can run outside more often, but don't skip it - remember, the first time you let yourself quit makes the second time that much easier. Eventually, increase the number of times you run outside, until you're only running inside when the weather is bad.

Next time, I'll be giving advice on how to play the ponies, just as soon as I find my copy of Metro.

Pounding Down The Pavement

Day Two: 2 miles, about sixteen minutes, felt great. Great, that is, except for the pain: the burning in my upper chest because my lungs aren't used to this effort, the stiffness in my quadriceps because my legs aren't used to this particular motion, the headache I've gotten both days in the middle of the run, and whatever it is I did to my knee when I stood up earlier. It will go away, but I sure don't miss this stuff. On the plus side, walking the dog immediately afterwards does loosen things up a bit.
I will not be deterred, however. Back in college, I developed severe patellar tendonitis in both knees, which made it hard to straighten my legs. It didn't actually hurt to run, but stopping was excruciating. The official treatment was two ibuprofen with every meal, plus ultrasound before practice and ice afterwards. The unofficial treatment was 6-8 more ibuprofen a few hours after dinner, washed down with two beers. These days, if I'm a little sore after exercising, my motivation to not stop is that this pain is nothing, comparatively. Sort of like banging one's head against a wall, because it feels good to stop, eh?
Lest this blog just turn into "my running journal," I'll be moving the updates to the sidebar. Ooh, content!

"I run because, at any given moment, my life may depend on being faster than whoever is chasing me." - Henry Abshire

Four years ago, after finishing my first season as an assistant track coach at my former high school, I decided to get myself back into shape. When I was 22, I could run sub-five-minute miles, so at 29, I was still too young to have sixteen-year-old girls running circles around me. I bought some new running shoes, grabbed the stopwatch I had received as an end-of-season gift, and headed out of my driveway on what I knew from long experience to be a run of almost exactly two miles. My mistake was taking the watch; I glanced down at the mile mark, and was disheartened to learn that I had covered the first mile in just over nine minutes. I stopped running halfway through the second mile.
Recently, I found an excuse to begin running again, so this is the beginning of my running diary.
Day One - 1.5 miles. Maybe a little more. Didn't bring the stopwatch, but it felt like 8:30.
Tomorrow, I must remember to wear my actual running shoes, not the ones I use to walk the dog. Those shoes are worn out; I don't feel it when I walk, but it sure did hurt to run in them.
Speaking of Ginny, I had always suspected that she would be a bad running partner, because she is so easily distracted on our walks. It turns out that she has no problem following right along without stopping. The problem, however, is that she can't run the whole way. I had to let her off the leash a few hundred yards from home, so that I could finish running, and she could trot on in at her own pace. I'd hate to have tried this on a hot day. Maybe I can run first, and then use the walk as a cool-down.