Thoughts About Running

I did my normal Saturday run at Waterton yesterday, and as usual it contained elements of "Hey, I'm really running and it feels great!" alongside thoughts of "Shoot me now, please!"

Most of the "shoot me" thoughts came early in the run, where the road was muddy and slippery, and my knees were belligerent. Until I'm warmed up and loose, each footstep can send shooting pain from the knee up my femur, through my torso, and into my brain. And when you add in the loss of traction and extra shoe-weight that comes with muddy conditions, well, a rational person would begin to question the activity altogether.

Ah, but rationality has no place in my internal universe, and I reject all forms of logic. Instead, I continue to run, content in the knowledge that while my form may elicit laughter and derision from independent observers, and my knees may swell to the size of coconuts...at least I'm burning off the calories from last night's chocolate binge.

The good news is that I got better. After a couple of miles, I loosened up and ran more or less like a normal person. As I plodded along, though, I thought about my "real" runner friends, and how they all just seem to float along the road, gaily chatting and laughing, nonchalantly cranking out the miles as if it's something they'd do even if they didn't have a choco-addiction.

In fact, today is the day my friend Katie is running the California International Marathon...and she's doing it for fun! That's 26.2 miles, twice as far as I ran yesterday, and she'll do the whole thing at a faster pace than my quickest mile. Then there's Sue, who runs 50-milers for fun, and would probably want to go climb a mountain afterwards. And they make it look so easy!

And when it's easy, staying in shape is fun! That's my goal then: to use the inspiration from my smooth-running, make-it-look-easy friends/running mentors to reach a point where I can look forward to running in the same way I look forward to my swimming workouts. Oh sure, I'd like to be able to do another marathon at some point, but I'm not going to obsess about that. I just want to work hard enough to reach a point where it's no longer such hard work.

So...remind me of that the next time I start whining about my knees or whatever, OK? Instead of being jealous of their style, ease, and expertise, I just need to try to imitate them the best that I can.

Well, either that or stop eating so much, so I wouldn't have so many calories to burn. Hmm. I'll let you know which option I decide to go for.