Category Archives: Running

Running past the app

December 25, 2014 7:07 AM , Leave a Comment ,

When I began trying to get fit I knew that I would need something to gauge my level of health.  This was around 4 years ago and the last time I had been in a gym or run a lap was over a decade earlier.  So I was starting from scratch and hadn’t a clue about anything, not even about how unhealthy I was.

After reading some books and websites, and then consulting a trainer I decided that walking and running would be where I would start my fitness crusade.  The general consensus was that in order to start getting healthy that I would need to walk at least 10,000 steps per day.  So I would need a pedometer, a little device to count my steps.

Most pedometers I’d seen were in the 40 to 100 dollar range.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make that much of an investment in something I might drop a week later.  Remember, this is at the beginning of the process and I was not all that sure of things at the time.

I was in a dollar store picking up some cheap batteries and next to the batteries was a pedometer.  A little cheap plastic device with a digital counter and a start and stop button and nothing else.  This was the most primitive type of pedometer, a pendulum pedometer.  Basically anytime you shake it back and forth you cause it to tick off one more step.  You could vigorously shake it in your hand for a minute and tick off a couple hundred “steps”.  The price was right and for my purpose it was perfect.

The next day I clipped it on and went through my normal day and lo and behold I barely took a thousand steps in a day. Depressing but eye-opening.  I took the pedometer for a few test walks and found what it took to get to 10,000 steps and did it.  After that I got a better sense of things and stopped using it.

A year or so later I stepped up the game and bought a pedometer watch.  It was much more accurate than the previous pedometer and could calculate distances and give me miles per hour for when I did run.  But I never really took to it.  After a couple of months I stopped using it.

My next couple of years were about building up my fitness habits.  I wasn’t really looking into better performance but just building up the  routine to make it habitual within myself.

But in 2013 I got a new smartphone that had a built-in fitness app.  This app used the phone’s built-in GPS application to plot my running routes and give me the amount of time I spent running and the distance covered.  This was quite handy as I could strap it onto my arm and not even have to set it up.  Just go and run and let the app do its thing.

I used it for over a year and watched my daily distance run over time grow and grow.  If I missed a day the app would show that on a bar graph and tell me how my average compared to previous months.  A handy motivational tool.

Then one day someone at the developer decided to update the app and erased all my records for the last 15 months.  In the blink of an eye all that hard work was gone.

Stunned doesn’t cover it.  Angry?  yes, a bit.  The new app works but I now have to log in before each exercise.  Not as automatic as I’d been used to before.  On top of this I now have to store my results on a cloud based app where it’s vulnerable to hacking.  I know, not a huge deal but still, why couldn’t it be stored on my phone.  Not the same easy experience that I was used to.

Along with this development I had been in a bit of a funk about my running lately.  I’d been missing days and doing less and this whole app mess didn’t help things.

I went on vacation and realized how much more I needed to do.  The vacation allowed me to set my goals for the coming year and one thing I realized is that the fitness doesn’t depend on the technology to work.  All the apps, and the watches, and the fitness bands are great but at the end of the day they don’t do the work for you, you do.

So the day after I came back I went out and just ran my regular route without the phone.  I’ve been running every day since that without needing to be prodded.  My fitness goals have been set and I’ve already contacted my new trainer to begin working out in the new year.

The technology was a good way to get back to where I needed to be in my life but it’s not the most crucial aspect of my fitness.  The point of it all is to feel better and to become the person that I want to be and no device will do that for me.

Posted in: activities, exercise, goals, health, running, technology

The challenge

November 23, 2014 6:48 AM , Leave a Comment ,

It lay at the bottom of the list under the category: fitness goals

  • 16 miles

The Galleria trail.  I find it helpful to give things more personalized names.  A name like “trail 6” or “route 5” just doesn’t have the proper gravitas for me. The Galleria was one of Houston’s best known malls and it was in the vicinity of this trail.  The trail was actually Briar Forest road all the way to Loop 610 west and back home.  8 miles there and 8 miles back.

I’d been crossing things off my goals list, left and right during the year but had consciously avoided this one as much as possible.  The thing seemed ludicrously impossible.  I was still mastering 6 miles a day.  Never mind such lofty goals like 16 miles or even a 26 mile marathon.  This remained in the background like one of those unwinnable prizes at a crooked carnival game.  Ever beckoning but you know you just can’t do it and trying would be a waste of time.  So you just leave it up there and tolerate it cause it looks so good.

Long about June or so I had made great progress in some areas.  Far more frankly than I’d expected or hoped.  This goal came up again.  Maybe, just maybe it was worth a try.  It wasn’t.

About 5 miles in I began thinking about the rest of the distance and my will faltered.  I stopped around Chimney rock street and returned home.  About 13 miles or so and my feet and legs already complaining.  I obviously needed more seasoning.

So I got on with life.  This goal went back up on the shelf for the time being.

October rolled around and I decided that I was now ready and made two equally disastrous attempts.  14 miles.  Close but it wasn’t happening.  More than anything I lacked the willpower to see this through.

It’s late November and this unfinished goal nags at me.  Late Friday night and driving home after an art show and I’ve had a pretty dismal day and I’m keyed up.  Hell, I’m angry.  Just a frustrating day overall.  I want something.  Something to work out my frustrations on.  The Galleria trail.  I want to go now, never mind waiting till morning.  I’m beyond just giving it the old college try or doing my best. 16 miles or bust.

I finally have the impetus to do this.  The proper frame of mind to  tackle this.

I go to bed pretty late but I can’t sleep.  I keep thinking “How, how can I do this if I’ve failed three times already?”  Then the answer hits me.  Don’t do this.  Do more.  Go up Briar Forest but return by Westheimer road.  I get up and fire up the computer and plot out the new route on Google Earth.  16.6 miles.  I stretch out the course some more by adding twists and turns and it comes out as 17.5 miles.  I go back to bed.  That should be enough.

I was setting up an even more impossible task and diminishing the power of the original challenge.

I can’t sleep the rest of the night.  Not that I have much night left anyways.  A few hours of lying in bed with my eyes open and unable to fall asleep.  Let’s  do this now!  Tear’em to pieces!  I finally get out of bed just after 4 and dress and head out.  I have to practice self control to avoid going full out.  Save it for the long haul.

Down Briar Forest and past the giant estates in the Memorial Villages.  Miniature towns carved out as tax havens back in the 50s for people with money who wanted to get away from Houston taxes but to still enjoy the benefits of Houston living.  For such a rich community they were sure chintzy about street lights.  At that time of the morning, Briar Forest was as empty and dark as a country lane.

Past Voss, past FountainView, past Chimney Rock and into new territory.  My body holding together quite well.  Morning after morning after morning of runs have accustomed my body to long runs of this length.  But will it get me through a much longer run?

Post Oak Boulevard.  Our version of Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles.  Past this is my goal.  Loop 610,  the steel and concrete moat that surrounds old Houston and divides Houston between the suburbs and the urban areas.  Between the places that people want to be and the places that most have to live in.

I worry that the Loop off ramps will be swarming with traffic but at this hour on a Saturday the off ramps are nearly deserted and I cross the street quite easily.  Running under the Loop and above me it fairly hums with life as traffic rolls on past overhead.

I crossover and go inside the loop.  I take the last few steps and land with a triumphal hop on the sidewalk of the other side.  I had made it.  Even if I have to crawl back home now, I had made it.  I run over to Westheimer and take the road back.

It’s amazing how you can drive by a place all the time and miss so many details.  All the little shops that I didn’t know were there near the Galleria area.  You really miss so much cocooned away in your steel and glass car.

Back at Chimney rock.  The first of the pains start.  Maybe my quadriceps.  A throbbing dull ache with each step.  I tell myself it will go away or at least hope that it will.  I’ve got nearly eleven miles in and six or so to go.

I go into a rhythmic pace.  left, right, left, right.  Must not stop, cannot stop.  Keep going.  Three more streetlights till Hillcroft.  Can you see it?  Way down there.  Just 3 more lights.

A new pain.  This time one of the toes in my right foot.  Each time I step into it.  A sharper pain.

3 more lights till Dunvale.  Must be around mile 13.

You’ve done more than before.  Quit now.  Sit down and have a rest and then walk the rest of the way home. No.  Keep going.

Running on the road now as the sidewalks are cracked and easy to trip on.  In a bit of a daze as I tire out.  I can barely hop out-of-the-way of oncoming traffic.  Keep going.

3 more lights till Fondren.  Then you’ll see some of the more familiar running routes.  In the distance there it is.  Chuy’s restaurant.  You pass Chuy’s on your long runs. You’re practically home, see?  Just keep going.

My left leg is now as stiff as a board.  I don’t think my knee is even bending now.  Aches with every step.  Knees are the old tenants of the body.  They constantly complain and remind you about tenant agreements and threaten to report you to the super.

My mouth is dry.  Despite the cool weather I’ve sweated out every drop of water.  Wish I cut spit.  My mouth feels like sandpaper.

“You’re doing this, you’re doing this” my mantra to keep me going.  My little prayer to maintain my faith here in this dark hour.

3 more lights till the Beltway.  Why’s it always three more lights?!?!

Behind me the sun is rising  Just lightening up everything around me.  A ludicrous thought enters my mind.  If the sun comes up you will lose and have to do it all over again.  No!  that’s ridiculous.  It’s true.  No, that’s dumb.  Despite the pain I quicken my pace as much as I can which isn’t much.

Hayes road.  I could cut through Hayes road and get back home quicker.  No.  I signed up for the full course and I will do the full course.  If I do this now then I won’t have to do it again.  Of course that’s a lie.  I will have to do this more times and do even more.  I knew what the next stage would be.  No more messing around with more intermediaries.  26.2.  Once I mastered this route then there could be no more dallying.  But that was for next year.

Stoneford Drive and finally there’s my street.  I can’t muster up any more strength as I reach my driveway. No celebrations, not even a mental pat on the back.  I slow down and try to walk.  My legs can’t make sense of walking and I stagger round like a drunken man almost falling over.  I can barely get the key in the lock.

My knees protest as I trudge upstairs.  I sit in my office chair and peel off my shoes.  That ache in my right foot was a toenail.  I had ripped it and the sock was bloody.  I always heard old-time runners complain about bloody socks and black and blue toes.  Now I understood what they meant.  Now I was an old-timer.

I had done “the impossible”.  I headed for the showers as a wave of exhaustion finally washed over me.  I tried to focus on what would be the next impossible goal.

 

Posted in: goals, running

My routes

November 7, 2014 7:04 AM , Leave a Comment ,

I decided to share my walking and running routes for the past four years.

Mainly this is an excuse to air out my map making skills.  If you ever wondered what geographers do for fun, well…. this isn’t it.  I was using my mapping tools at work when this idea for a blog popped up in my mind.  By the way if you don’t have it yet, get Google Earth.  it’s a great little mapping tool.  Very easy to use and the basic version is free.

I started out with a mind-blowing 1-mile walk at night.  It took me half an hour and I came back sweating and breathing hard but it was a start.

start-9tenths

Then I “discovered” Hershey park and upped my game to 2 and a half miles of walking.  I would drive to the park and walk the route and within a month I had torn some tissue in my hip.  Any attempt at running was painful to say the least.  So I had to walk this route for 6 months.

park-2point4

My next progression was walking to the park rather than driving.  Up to 4 miles now but still walking.  Taking a few short sprints here and there and testing out my hip.

park-4

I hate taking the same route up and then back so for my next step up I completed a loop round the park.  Up to five miles now.  Still mostly walking but jogging here and there putting together a half mile here, a quarter-mile there.  Eventually segments would merge together.  One nondescript Saturday morning I took a chance and ran the whole course.  I actually did a victory loop at the end.

park-5

My daily run has now settled to about six and half miles.  I keep a couple of different routes to keep from getting bored.

standard-sixfive

standard-sixfive-2

If I wake up late I use my “emergency” route.  A quick 4 mile course that I can finish in less than an hour and still feel that I’ve accomplished something for the day.

emergency-four

On the other hand if I wake up early I go for my 8 mile route.  Took some creative routing to get it up to 8 miles.

challenge-8

Finally there’s the 16 miler.  I have failed horribly on this route twice.  I get around 13 to 14 miles before I have to walk or rather hobble home.  If I ever hope to run a marathon I need to achieve this first.  I  think I need to work up to it.  But I’m in no rush.

unachieved-16

What is your running regimen?

Posted in: exercise, life in general, running

Tooling up for success

October 4, 2014 6:44 AM , Leave a Comment ,

When I first decided to get fit (about 5 years ago now) I started out walking.  I wore blue jeans with a regular t-shirt and wore casual shoes.  I soon realized that for what I needed to do that this would never do.  So I went to Walmart and got the only athletic gear that they had, which was basketball shorts and regular tennis shoes and that’s what I started with.

Over time I’ve refined this as circumstances dictated and have found that little tweaks in my gear can make a big difference not only in comfort but in performance.  So here are a few hard-won lessons that I’ve discovered over the years and miles.

Footwear

Now even the most novice runner will know the importance of having proper footwear.  When you really get deep into it you will have to make a choice between lightweight footwear and well padded footwear.  If you read websites and articles you will be bombarded by all sorts of buzzwords and “new technologies” and you may be tempted to dismiss all of this as foolishness.

But the thing is that some types of footwear do make a difference.  I got rid of the clunky tennis shoes that I bought at Walmart in about 3 months and graduated to a pair of Brooks running shoes recommended to me by the staff at a dedicated athletic shoe store.  I still remember the first run.  The shoes almost felt like they were begging me to run.  I had a literal spring in my step.  Now I can’t recommend these shoes for you.  Your feet are your business and these may feel terrible to you and maybe another brand of shoes might be better for you.  You may not even need expensive shoes.  I know a guy who bought a pair of knock off sneakers at a flea market for $25 and used them for 5 years.  All I can tell you that the proper footwear can make the difference between feeling good at the end of your run or feeling achy and tired.

Clothes

The lighter the better obviously but you also want clothes that will wick away moisture from you as you run.  Regular cotton t-shirts are generally closed knitted and don’t let heat escape and they soak up moisture and make you feel clammy and heavy.  What you want is a mesh like material that let’s air breathe through as you run and that let’s water or sweat drain.

As to shorts you want something a little closer fitting, not too loose.  Pockets are also a good idea.

Gear

I started out running with nothing but the clothes on my back and my house key.  I added a pedometer watch but I found that a little bit limited in function.  Last year I bought a smartphone with a pedometer function and I carry it on my armband.  Not just handy for keeping track of my mileage but a useful backup in case anything happens on the road.  I found a good plastic waterproof case that protects the phone from the rain and my sweat and so far the system is working out great.

I don’t generally go in for other items like sunglasses or hats or sweat bands.  I prefer to go lighter.  Besides which I generally run before the sun’s up anyways.

Winter running may require an extra layer but I’ve gone out in shorts and t-shirt in 30something temperatures in February and returned soaked in sweat.  You just have to tough out the first few minutes till you warm up.  One thing you do want to mind is cold wind or snow.  That’s when you should add a layer.

 

The right gear won’t turn you into a world-class marathon runner or break records but for the average runner it can make the difference between sticking with the sport or quitting from frustration.

Posted in: life in general, running

wrung out

August 11, 2014 6:39 AM , Leave a Comment ,

When August comes to Houston you can’t even get relief from the heat and humidity at 4 in the morning.  It’s pitch black and the city has had almost the entire night to cool off but once I open the door to step outside I immediately feel the stifling humidity that we’re notorious for.

More like an overwhelming sweater that covers your body than anything else.  You feel uncomfortable from the moment you step into it and you won’t feel better till you’re out of it but there’s nothing to be done but get this run done and over with.

pad, pad, pad, pad.

Your feet beat out a metronome like pace down the dark and lonely streets.  Occasionally a car may pass.  Usually it’s a paper delivery truck making the morning rounds.  Maybe it’s someone getting to work early to get ahead on their work, maybe it’s someone coming home after some personal drama.

Darkness and more darkness hides things here and there.  A night heron carefully walks round someone’s lawn and eyes me suspiciously till I pass by and am no longer a danger.  A cat lounges on the trunk of an old Chevy parked out on the street.  Just barely opening up his eyes to acknowledge my presence and then slipping back into an easy slumber.  A spider has carefully and meticulously woven an intricate lattice calculated to snare a juicy morsel.  Instead the web falls victim to some stumbling oaf that tears hours of good quality weaving and ruins an entire night’s efforts.

Once the sun rises and rules the land with an iron fist all of these characters will hide back in the shadows till night falls once again.  The streets will be even emptier of life.

I run off the street and enter the park.  The city sounds fade into the distance and the last rays of light from the street lamps fade behind me.  I plunge into total silence and darkness.  I tear through a couple more small spider webs.  Proof that no one has been here for hours at least.  In the 4th largest city in America I am alone.  Nevertheless I still get the creepy feeling that just out of my range of vision that someone is out there.

I hear a rustle and I stop breathing.  My ears straining to hear the slightest noise.  I don’t even think that my heart is beating.

nothing.

Nothing but the rhythmic patter of my footsteps.

The long road home.  A few more cars on the roads.  Big street lights lighting the way.  Not so long ago I would have been achy and tired by this point.  Now it’s all too routine.  The only outward sign of my effort is the sweat.

I don’t just sweat a little.  A virtual cascade of sweat pours off me.  The humidity again.

The last few streets.  I look up into the eastern sky.  Venus is clearly visible above the horizon.  Soon the sun will join it.  I could physically tackle another mile or two but I have to be at work soon.

I walk in the door and the coolness of the house hits me in my soaking wet clothes.  An instant chill.  I can hear the rustle of the damp cloth as I go upstairs. My knees are stiff as I bend over to untie my shoes.  Have to stretch the kinks out.

I try to take off my sticky wet clothes and they refuse to come off.  Finally I have to peel them off.  My clothes are literally soaked and dripping wet just as if I had just fallen into a pool.

I wring them out in the tub and see a cascade of sweat pour off of them.  The shower feels wonderful after all of that.

Now I am ready to take on the rest of the day.

Posted in: exercise, running

pulling out all the stops

April 9, 2014 7:04 AM , Leave a Comment ,

“it’s not a race.  Just keep going at a nice steady pace.”

That was my mantra when I began running and I wanted to encourage myself.  I knew that I couldn’t keep up with more experienced runners or college kids so I had to motivate myself to keep trying even if it seemed like I wasn’t making progress.  Heck, it’s still my mantra on bad days when I have “the lazies“.

Well, forget all that.  Today IS a race!

April 5th at Memorial Park and I’m here at “4 for the park”.  Not a huge race but I’ve been looking forward to this for a while.  I usually avoid crowds when running but sometimes you need to test yourself out against others.  Today I did have to do my best and not just in the sense of just showing up and finishing but really pushing myself hard.

Besides the need to finish the race at the best pace possible, I’ve got another appointment practically right after the race so the quicker I finish the better.

On Saturday morning Memorial Park swarms with runners.  So many times I’ve driven past and seen them and here I was among them.

The local runners are used to these events and pay it little mind.  Since it’s a shorter course some people have already run the trail and are just coming back in.  I don’t do much in the way of stretching.  Four miles isn’t a big deal for me so I really don’t need all that much prep.  I just walk back and forth till it’s almost time and spend my time looking at all the runners in all sorts of shapes and sizes and age ranges.  Some even too young to run but that participate anyways;  kids in “running” strollers being pushed by their parents.  No doubt getting a sneak preview of the trails that they will one day run.

Nearly time and people gather behind a giant inflatable start line.  I look at the mob of people trying to decide where I will line up.  Obviously not the front.  I will just get in the way of all the fast runners.  The tail end has all the beginners and walkers.  I would forever be dodging and going around them.  I find a spot somewhere near the middle with a large empty space.

The start line

The start line

The announcer counts down the last few seconds.  I cross myself and the mob surges forward at a slow pace at first; walking as the first rows get going.  I finally get to the front and start at a slow jog.  Dodging people left and right, looking round for ways around them, trying not to crash into people coming up behind me.

That first mile is always ridiculously long.  You figure you’ve run a long way already and then that 1-mile sign comes up and you realize it’s just beginning but you keep going.  I make the second turn on the course.  Coming in the opposite direction are the race leaders.  Some cheers from the runners around me.   I make the next turn and approach the 2-mile mark.  Gatorade and water ahead.  Some people don’t even try to aim for the waste bins.  I pass it by.

I run over the pedestrian bridge over Memorial Drive.  It suddenly hits me that here is yet another landmark that I had passed so many times by car on my way to downtown or some other location in the loop and here I was on foot.  This is now part of my personal map of places I’ve been.

3-mile mark.  Keep going strong.  I’ve been steadily passing more and more runners and not giving ground but some people suddenly catch and pass me by.  I pick up the pace determined to keep up with them and not fall behind.

Up ahead is an inflatable thing that looks like the finish line.  Is that it?  I speed up, burning hard for the finish.  Someone yells “false alarm!”  It’s not part of the course.  I groan internally and slow my pace and continue to run steadily.

Finally some well-wisher on the sidelines yells “just two more turns and you’re done”.  I look expectantly as the road unwinds and sure enough there it is.

Now, do it now! 

My last burst of speed to finish strong.  I half expect myself to be out of energy after that false alarm but nobody is more surprised than me when I kick it into high gear and practically peel out catching up and passing not just the guy in front of me but several others.  I zip past the finish line and have to brake hard not to run into a crowd of people.

No time to celebrate.  I look for the parking shuttles to get back to the parking lot.

Later I look online for my time. 39 minutes, 6 seconds.  About 9 minute, 45 second per mile.  Not bad but I can do better and next time I will.

Posted in: Houston, running

run angry

March 6, 2014 6:58 AM , 2 Comments ,

Well I don’t necessarily mean angry but sometimes you get those days when your personal life or home life is just getting to you or maybe work is being particularly challenging.

I just had it.  My mood was just at that point.  My blood was up and cold weather or not I had to get out on the road.  No warm up or stretch or slowly building up speed, just run.

My feet pounding the pavement hard.  My fists practically punching the air as I strode harder and harder.  Glancing left and right at a red light.  Good.  No traffic.  I wasn’t planning to stop anyways.

Lengthening my stride as much as my short legs can.  I reach the park.  The trail leading to the park is flooded over.  I grab the railing and vault it.  Haven’t done that in decades but I can’t stop now.  Slipping on the mud a bit.  Shaking it off like a dog.  Need to keep going.

No one’s out today.  I cruise straight through like a missile.  Reach the other side and there’s solid traffic.  No chance to get across.  I run alongside till the traffic abates and get to the median.  More traffic so I hop and run on the median till I get my chance.

More than halfway done and not a twinge of fatigue even though I’m still going all out.  A little old lady walking along in the distance.  I will soon pass her but the sidewalk is narrow.  I look farther down at the oncoming traffic.  I’m going to run round her using the street.

My eyes estimate the traffic’s distance and speed and my body’s senses give me an estimate of my speed.  A quick mental calculation gives me the probability of pulling this off.  Everyone can do this.  It’s instinctual.  You do it every time you catch a ball.  I lunge sideways and run round her and then leap back onto the sidewalk never breaking stride.

A major intersection.  I glance at all the traffic lights I can see.  Run to the median and have to wait for crossing traffic.  I pause and flex my knees.  They’re stiff and ache a bit.  I keep going after the last car passes.

The last stretch.  Finish strong.  Stretch out those steps as far as possible.  Almost slide into the front door.

Now the sweat pours off me.  My eyes red rimmed from the salty sweat in them.  I don’t think I have a spare ounce of water in my entire body.

Shower off in ice-cold water.  I don’t even remember what upset me.

Posted in: attitude, running

Pushing hard

January 23, 2014 7:01 AM , 1 Comment ,

I was going through my standard 6 mile run on a Saturday morning.  It was Fall and the Sun was already up.  I had slept in and I was late.  I turned and entered Hershey park from the Kirkwood road side and headed east to the Wilcrest side.

Crowds of runners and cyclists already.  I usually prefer to run odd hours to avoid this sort of thing but today I would have to put up with it.

At the quarter mile mark.  Among other reasons that I love Hershey park are the quarter-mile markers unobtrusively poking out at the side of the jogging trails.  The trail curved and I look back.  Way back I see a younger runner just starting out.  Probably about 20 years younger, taller, and obviously better suited to running than I am.

An odd thought pops up in my head.  Could I beat him to the Wilcrest side?  He was way back after all.  Why not try it?

At first I barely increase my speed.  I sneak a peek back and see he’s gaining on me steadily.  Half mile to go.  I am still ahead of him somehow.  Could I pull this off?  Suddenly this gains a new sense of urgency.  I “need” to beat him.  It has suddenly become imperative.

Quarter mile to go.  I start speeding up more.  I sneak more peeks.  He seems to have noticed what I’m doing and starts going faster and faster!  It’s suddenly become a real race.  His strides are longer than mine and with each step he gains a little on me.  A song lyric pops up in my mind from the song “The fabled hare” by Maddy Pryor.

Tongues pant, hearts thump
Closer closer, through the fields
Teeth snap, bones crack
Closer closer, at my heels

Nearer, yet and nearer
I can see the hunter’s knife
He is running for his dinner
I am running for my life

I no longer need to look back.  I can feel him right behind him.  I can hear his footsteps.  The final fork in the road just ahead.  One branch going under the Wilcrest bridge and the other branch up to street level.

Pouring in the last dregs of strength into my legs.  I am somewhat surprised to find that actually do have something left.  I can’t say that I pulled away but I did keep him at a distance and I reach Wilcrest.  He continues on under the bridge giving me a friendly wave.

I walk down the road and try to catch my breath and try to ignore my aching feet.

Near home.  A little over a mile left and I’ve recovered.  Jogging steadily there is no need for any special effort.  I can coast all the way home now.  I turn onto Hayes road.  A half mile straight road leading to my subdivision.  About halfway down the road another jogger.  Minding his own business plodding along.

I don’t know what’s gotten into me this morning.

This is too irresistible to me to pass up.  Going from the hunted to the hunter.  I speed up with barely a thought.  Not just to reach but pass this guy up before the turn off.  No anxiety this time.  I know I will catch and pass him up.  I blow past him easily and keep going at full speed all the way home.

I feel energized and pumped.  I generally avoid doing this but sometimes I have to try out my strength and see what I can do.  As long as I don’t turn it into a habit I don’t think it will be a negative.

Posted in: motivation, running

Gear

January 17, 2014 6:24 AM , 2 Comments ,

Every six months or so I have to replace my running shoes.  Being a person with low arches sucks.  I not only have to replace my shoes but I need arch support.  So I have to break in not only shoes but arch supports.

The first few days are not pleasant, so I try to use my old shoes for as long as possible before I finally admit that my old pair are totally run down and useless.

Things get worse when the old brand that you have grown accustomed to is either no longer made or has fallen off in quality.

An athlete (and I am in no way claiming that I am one) has a mental state to maintain as well as a physical state.  They have to make sure that everything is right otherwise their performance will suffer when they’re in the middle of a competition.

Similarly I have to feel that the gear I use will work as intended and that it works with the other gear I have.  Now I don’t go as far as some athletes.  The last time I bought new shoes I had to wait because the previous customer wanted his new shoes to match his sunflower yellow running shorts and the staff was going nuts looking for the appropriate shoes in the stock room.

Fashion is the last thing on my mind on the running trails.

So finally I have my new running shoes and I am going through the awkward breaking in period.  Some discomfort, but with every step I feel my feet becoming accustomed and accepting the new shoes.  In a month or two I won’t be able to imagine running in anything else.

Posted in: psychology, running

How to fall in 4 easy steps

November 10, 2013 7:38 PM , Leave a Comment ,

When we go through life we might hope that we will cruise through life without any injuries or scars but that’s rarely the case.  All of us have to be prepared to receive and deal with life’s injuries the best way possible.  I have compiled a list of  four ways that you can best come through the inevitable falls in life.

What inspired this post was a recent event.  My second day running in central park ended on a memorable note.  I fell, and I fell hard.  I was running south towards Columbus Circle and almost finished my run when I decided to cross the street.  All I had to do is hop over the curb and it would be a straight run out of the park.  A tiny piece of cobble stone peeked over its fellow cobbles.  Maybe a millimeter higher but just enough to catch the edge of my running shoe and send me falling forward.

I hit hard.  Having not totally lost my balance this much in at least a decade I was totally unprepared for it.  I could feel and hear my knee joints grind together.  My hands out in front of me crumpled and twisted in odd directions.

I had the presence of mind afterwards to not move around too quickly and do an inventory of what might or might not be broken.  I scared a couple of kids who witnessed it and they graciously helped me back up.  I was fine but it could have been worse.

So first lesson.  Avoid the obvious perils.  In this case I should have waited for a handicap ramp or a bike lane or something rather than hopping over the curb like some kid.  In life I can do many stupidly perilous things or I can play it safe in most things possible.  It won’t make me totally safe but I can minimize the damage that I might otherwise take for no good reason.

Second lesson.  learn how to fall.  I pretty much just let this fall do what it wanted.  I didn’t try stabilize myself or guard my body.  You can trip and fall in ways that the damage is minimized to almost nothing.  But, if you do nothing you are almost asking to get hurt badly.

Third lesson.  Take stock of the damage.  This, I did do.  A disaster in your life is never as bad as you think it is.  Try and see things for what they really are.  Calm down, think, prioritize, and move forward.

Last lesson.  Thank those that try to help you.  In this case it was a pair of teenage kids that I doubt put together weighed as much as I did but they put their hearts into helping up an old man.  Be mindful to note those that helped you when you were down.  They could have walked on after all.

 

 

 

Posted in: life in general, running