arunningwriter-blog

[arunningwriter-blog]

Saturday. The BEST run I've had. Ever.

Hello there!

So, this title is pretty self explanatory. I just had the best goddamned run of my LIFE this morning. Was a morning like any other morning. How funny that this run was just waiting around the corner for me. 

What made it so great? My mind was cool like Samuel L. Jackson bro.

Pace was great - not fast, not slow. Just go. Steady, calming. 

Legs were hardly noticeable. I knew that I was using them only by noticing that the landscape around me kept changing. Not a peep from my feet either. No hotspots. No dramas. 

I ran with S today (my best friend). For the first time ever, I was even able to talk a little bit during the jog. Will wonders never cease to amaze?! He's a good pace-setter and I really enjoy running with another person. Keeps me accountable. And keeps me going when I REALLY need the extra kick up the bum part-way through a run. 

We added a bit of distance to our usual hilly route today. Not much... but enough. It felt good. I even caught myself thinking, "wow - I wish this run wouldn't end. I could seriously just keep going and going." Woah. I know right?! 

We arrived at the final turn-off to head home and S decides to keep going and tack on another similar length run at the end of this run that we were near completing! And the crazy thing? I thought about joining him! For once, common sense (and an acute fear of injury) prevailed and I turned towards home and he went off in the other direction. Amazing. Amazing that he went, and that I even entertained this thought! We're getting there - I can feel it! I hope all of my future runs go like this one. I know they won't but wow, imagine... 

I actually "got" it today. I felt like a person who enjoys running. Go figure!

Oh. I also forgot to mention that I am becoming increasingly obsessed with the idea of running a marathon. I think that's the next thing...

:)

[arunningwriter-blog]

"Ergh" was the tune of my run today...

At the moment, I am a lazy runner. And you know what else? I think I still dislike running a little (despite what I'm training myself to think as I clock up the feet-powered kilometres). There. I said it. I've just run again after having 3 days off. Was I injured? No. Was I having 'rest' days. Again - no. 

I'm just lazy. And I'm OK with that. I'm working on it and it is going to take time. For me, and knowing the way my mind churns thoughts, this is going to a long and slow undertaking; to shift my attitude towards running. That's cool. It's all about the "journey" etc etc right?!!! Woosaahhhhh.

So, for brevity's sake here is a summary of my run today. Scores out of 10. '1' being "utter shite". '10' meaning "holy fark - that was freakin' awesome and I rule the world".

Mind = 3/10. This was not a good run mentally. 3 days off. What did you expect woman? There was a lot of "ergh, when will this end already - I AM SO BORED". Also, I ran without music...

Feet = 8/10. All's well down there. A slight niggle on the base of my left foot. Just an old blister that was starting to feel a bit raw again towards the end of the run.

Legs = 8.5/10. The limbs felt strong today. They kept me going at an even tempo. I struggled to hear the rhythm of my legs/feet today though due to the spoilt rock-star temper tantrum that was throwing chairs around in my head. 

Lungs = 9/10. We're gettin' there. Felt good. Breathing was even (albeit still a little fast) but this is the area that I've noticed the most improvement. Stamina in the lungs is building and this makes me happy. Hooray for small victories!

Overall = 7/10. I ran the whole route which I didn't expect to do today especially given the nonsense going on in my head. Pace was a bit all over the place though. Started out quite solidly and at a faster-than-usual pace but had to crank it back as I wasn't sure if I could make it all the way around at that initial pace. Again, a work in progress. My head just really dragged me down today. My own fault. Also, at the last intersection we hit a red light. That momentary pause jolted my body a bit and I could feel the nausea welling up inside me at a rapid and uncontrollable rate. I think if the little green man hadn't come up when it did, it would have been an amusing water cooler story today for all the commuters in traffic ...

Ah well. Another run down! I'm still standing and life is good.

[arunningwriter-blog]

This is what I have my nose in at the moment.

As a total Africa-phile and amateur runner, am really enjoying this engrossing and inspiring read. The author goes in search of the secrets behind the magnificently fast Kenyan runners. It's a shame I read it at night - every time I do dip into it I just feel like lacing up my sneakers and pelting off for a gallop!

[arunningwriter-blog]

True dat. 

[arunningwriter-blog]

A quiet run

Headed out the door this morning sans iPod of distractions. And you know what? It wasn't actually too bad. I had a lot of other things to think about though... "man, I can't feel my fingers! How cold is it??!", "1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2,... etc etc", "oh cripes, my lungs are about to implode"... you get the picture.

We're a long way from the serene runner that I imagine myself becoming that's for sure! And that's ok. Small steps! 

Alternate route today. A few little hills involved. Usually I bluntly run through them desperately focussing on the lyrics to whatever song is playing at the time so that I don't have to think about how long and steadily uphill-y the stretch of route is ahead of me. Today, I was mentally there with every footstep. I focussed on my (NOISY) exhalations; listened to my raggedy inhalations; tried to rein the two into a steady rhythm. I checked in mentally with all my running mates:

Hello lungs - you ok? Yup - doing ok thanks. Man, it's cold amirite?

Hey legs - how you feeling? Not bad mate. Right knee is 2/10 on the twinge-y scale but nothin' we can't run through.

Yo feet - you finicky bastards - how're you doin'? Hey. I thought you were going to rest today? Left foot is a bit blistery. Just ignore it. We're fine for now. Keep going lazybones.

And so it went. It's amazing how noisy your mind actually is when you're alone with it. An interesting run for me. As much as I tried to be all Zen-like and you know, do the whole focus on my breath thing, before too long, my mind was off thinking about e.g. lime milkshakes, blob-fish, and Sophie Mirabella (ergh). Then you just catch yourself thinking these sorts of random thoughts and try and bring it back to "centre" and refocus on your breath again. I find visualising a "centre-point" personally quite helpful (I'm a huge fan of symmetry and order - guilty as charged). This was my "aha" moment. Having dabbled in meditation on and off throughout the years, these little moments of catching my mind when it went off frolicking felt very comfortingly familiar. The only difference being that now, instead of sitting still, my body was in full motion while I was mentally trying to lasso my wayward thoughts and turn the volume in my head down. Although not much happened physically during the run besides the "pit, pat, pit, pat" of my footsteps and the occasional pause as I waited for traffic lights, internally it was quite the eventful run. It was nice to observe and run along-side just my noisy thoughts. Surprisingly more challenging than running with music. It was confronting and (in a positive way) forced me to be more present and aware of where I was, where I was landing my feet. To an unashamed multi-tasker (and well, truth be told, general lazy person) the combination of running and meditation together greatly appeals - two birds, one stone and all that. The perfect mash-up. 

And you know what? I even added an extra 10% in distance at the end. I actually felt like I wasn't done when I arrived at my final corner before the home stretch... so the legs kept going. Go figure. Will wonders never cease? Let's hope this continues! 

[arunningwriter-blog]

Do not be afraid to breathe. Breathe through that stitch. Loud, soft, through your nose, through your mouth - it doesn't matter. Just breathe and just keep running.

One of my running coaches from years ago. I can't even remember what they look like but I do remember them saying this over and over again while we shlepped our way around 10km routes.

[arunningwriter-blog]

Hahaha. Oh yes. Working on it though! (via http://freshair.stepintolife.com/2013/05/31/run-like-a-champion/)

[arunningwriter-blog]

Haha. And so my running adventures begin...

I ran this morning. I am determined to turn myself into a longish distance runner… what distance exactly, I’m not altogether sure as yet. Longer than 5 km anyway. As a long-time “farrrrkk, I hate running” runner, this is going to be an interesting endeavour. I actually started running again a few weeks ago but only now thought it might be helpful to track my progress (and share ups/downs/laughs with the interwebs). Feel free: laugh with me! I've run on and off for years but never loved it. It was always a means to an end ("I need to lose 5kgs", "my friend signed me up for a charity-run and I don't want to die mid-do-gooding and end up on Today Tonight", "I've got a work event/family reunion and need to look like I don't just survive on pizza and gin" etc etc). I want to change my relationship with running. Yes, improved fitness is a nice bonus but this time, I really want to see what all the fuss about. Yes, I want 'in' on this "I HEART RUNNING club! I have a sneaky suspicion that my mind is the only thing standing in the way of me turning my current relationship with running into a positive one.

So anyhoo, as the sun starts rising a little bit earlier every day (hooray – hello Spring!) and I attempt to reset my circadian rhythms that went awry over the dark winter, out the door I tumbled. I make it sound like this was a two minute exercise. Not so. I dawdled in bed for a bit and argued with my warm-in-bed-self who kept throwing up some quite convincing arguments as to why I should stay snuggled up with the boy (snoring soundly and implicitly also weighing in on the side of warm-in-bed-self’s argument). I thought of Murakami (great book - get on it). What would Haruki do? Get the fuck out of bed and start running, that’s what. Bleary-eyed, I crashed into the (cold) kitchen and brewed the first coffee for the day that would hopefully give me that needed kick up the backside. I was muttering under my breath as I put on my running gear. “You are a runner; you like running; you are strong; you run to relax; you run because you love it and it makes you feel good”. You my dear, are also possibly slightly delusional this early in the morning. Surprisingly though, this little pep-talk did seem to help somewhat. I was testing out new cotton-free socks today too. As a side note, why the fuck is it so hard to find cotton-free socks in the shops? A wall of socks in the shops and only the one (yes, ONE) pair that was non-cotton. The cotton ones give me blisters in case anyone cares :)

Like the groundhog, I stuck my head outside and was sorely tempted to duck back inside. Gray skies, colder than a frog on a frozen pool. This bit. Right here. The getting out the door bit. An area that I really need to work on. JUST GET OUT THERE WOMAN. Sheesh. 

The current route that I run is about 7km (thanks MapMyRun). The sun came out. The air was cool. Off I went. You know, once I actually start moving my legs and settle my mind down (usually takes about 5-10 minutes and is a repeat thought-cycle of "what the?!! where am I?? Aww man, this sucks! Movement?! What the hell?!"), I usually settle into a (slow) rhythm and really enjoy this activity of forward motion. I'm grateful that my body can do this. Move me through space and time. Propel me from Point A to Point B. That's kinda cool if you think of it on that level. Sometimes I run with music. I'm trying a few runs a week without it though as am also fascinated with the idea of running going hand-in-hand with meditation. That makes sense to me and something that I plan to explore as well. But today remixes of Lana del Rey and Birds of Tokyo accompanied me along the route. The sun shone... and then it buggered off. Then the rains came! I was about halfway around the route and well, just got completely saturated. Morning traffic was at a crawl and I can bet money that there was a bit of "look at that idiot running in the rain" conversation goin' on as folks waited for green lights. Haha! I know this as I would totally be saying something similar. If we can't laugh, what else is there?! On the plus side, the rain did make me run a bit faster! Got home 5 minutes faster than on previous runs. Hooray! Thanks Mother Nature for the added motivation. Overall, today's run was a 8/10. Felt quite good - lungs, legs and pace were steady, mind fluctuated a bit with the change in weather (and the sunscreen that the rain dribbled into my eyes - STINGS!), and ran the whole way (no walkie-sections). Happy!

One foot in front of the other; one breath after another. That's what I need to remember and embrace.