Thursday, February 28, 2013

Thoughts on my second run... and other things.


My Workout Plan This Week

Week Workout 1 Workout 2 Workout 3
1 Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.



So today is my second run in my (trumpets sounding) "2013 running campaign"!

It's been a few days since my last post.

Normally, I'd like to run at least every other day.  The Couch to 5K program is designed to have runs 3 days a week.  And I *will* get three runs in this week.

But on Tuesday, I woke up to it snowing fairly heavily.  I vastly prefer to run on pavement than a treadmill.

On top of that, my gym is across town (ok... so my town isn't that big) from where I live.  Driving through the snow probably seems like a walk in the park to people living in areas where it snows a lot.  But I live in Arkansas.  We are not prepared.  We don't have enough snow equipment to keep the roads clear.  We don't really know how to drive on it very well even if there was. So, I wasn't really ready to drive across town to go run on a treadmill.

Of course.... you may ask... why not just go run outside in the cold anyway.  What kind of wuss are you?  Well... apparently the kind that isn't strong enough yet to force myself outside in the snow to run.  That's what kind.

So... I didn't run on Tuesday.  And I didn't run on Wednesday either because... I didn't run on Wednesday.  No real good excuse.  Darnit.

But I remember Tuesday.  I wanted to run.  I was cursing my bad fortune that it snowed.  Cursing the track for being covered in ice.   Cursing the roads for being slippery.

But then I had to ask myself, "What about all those other days?  Those days when the road wasn't slippery, and the track was in pristine condition (as if it ever is)?"

The track was there.  It was waiting for me.  It was saying, "Here I am!  Come over here and spend some time with me!"

I wasn't listening.  I had too many other things going on, or so I told myself.

Oh I was a runner.  You betcha.  Of course I'm a runner.  Look at this drawer full of running clothes.  My treasure trove of race jerseys.  "You bet.  I'm a runner baby!"

"When was the last time you ran?"

"Um...., let me think..."

"Right.  Too long ago."

The track didn't let me down.  I let it down.

I took it for granted that the track would always be there, waiting for me.  And then, when one day it wasn't, I blamed it.

Stick with me here.  I know I'm sounding a bit crazy, making the track sound human.  There is a reason.

So, this morning.  I got up early (for me anyway).  6:00 AM and I'm awake, getting my son up for school as he has early classes on Tuesday and Thursday.  It's about time I made running a priority for the day.  So I get my gear on and get ready to run.  it's still pretty cold outside, so I plan to head to the gym and run on treadmill (yes I am still a wuss).

While I'm getting ready, my son walks in the room, visibly shivering.

"Dad, something is wrong with the hot water."

Oh... lovely.

"Damn that hot water heater!  Why does it have to break now?"  I shake my fist, for effect.  The water heater appears not to notice.

Oh wait... you mean that water heater that has worked every single day for years?  The one that is so consistent that you turn on the hot water and don't even really ever think about the possibility of it not working?  That water heater?

"Yep!  That's the one."

Hmm...

Isn't that interesting.  Yet another thing that is so consistent, I've taken it for granted.

It works, and works, and works, and works.  It's there for me every single day.

Oh and I enjoy the hot water.  You better believe I do.  I've had cold showers.  I know how fun they um... aren't.

So I value the hot water.  But I still take it for granted.  It seems like those should be mutually exclusive.

I go and do my run.  I'm only on week 1 of the program, and it's hardly accurate to call it a run.  I'm running a minute, followed by a walk for 90 seconds.  So it's really more of a walk with a low attention span than a run at this point.  Still, I'm moving at least.

I'm walking, then running, then walking.  All the time I'm thinking.  I take so many things for granted.

  • I take for granted that my body is able to run.
  • I take for granted that my I can beat my body into some sort of shape every year, and then let it go, and expect to be able  to do it again next year.
  • I take for granted that everything that is true today, will be true tomorrow.
  • I take for granted that the people who care about me now, will continue to care about me if I take them for granted.
  • I take any fitness level I reach for granted... like I will stay at that level (or even better, improve) without continuing to train.  "I can run 3 miles.  So this time next year I'll be able to run 3 miles too.  Hey that doughnut looks good!"
So many things in my life are so stable.

I am not.  I am a bundle of good intentions.  If you look at all my intentions, I'm a pretty good guy.  When you look at my accomplishments... hmm... 

Not so good.  I'm anything but consistent.  I'm the poster child for having a low attention span.  I get so wrapped up in myself.  I miss the people around me, begging for my attention. 

Is there an answer to this?  I don't know.  I guess the only way to start being more dependable, is to start.  Genius at work here!

And I thought this blog was just going to be about running.

Oh speaking of running.  I did actually do my run.

Isn't amazing how easy it is to do a run, when you aren't really thinking about the run?  On Sunday, I ran my Day 1 circuit, and wow was it hard.  Today... completely different.

So different that I didn't even notice when I missed an audio cue to stop running after my first 1 minute leg.  It told me to start walking.  I didn't hear it.  So I kept running, for an extra minute and a half.

Sunday, I'm staggering to get all 8 legs of running (1 minute intervals) done.  Today, I go for 2 and half minutes, and don't even realize it.

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