Damn.
For the past two weeks––now, sadly, entering my third week––I've jogged only once a week.
Mostly because I hate humidity and we're in swamp season now, which here in MN lasts a good 3 months.
And now it's hot, too, heading into the 90ºs...
So, I have to decide... do I want to give up jogging?
No!
OK, that was easy: even if I have a hard time doing it, even if I'm not doing it, I WANT to jog.
I truly like it, me and my body out shuffling along.
And I like the effects---being able to run for the bus, for instance, board it, and not have to act in front of the other passengers like, Oh, me? Are you kidding? I can easily run half a block! No prob!
...when really I'm smothering the need to gasp like a fish.
So, then, what?
Well, I can go to the gym and jog on the treadmill or the track.
These are OK options, but one of the great things about jogging is it doesn't require a trip to the gym. Jogging is a trip: I've even jogged to the gym for weight-lifting class a couple times.
"I've even jogged to the gym for weight-lifting class"?
This is ridiculously misleading: I sound so active! so athletic!
No, and no.
So, what then?
I could run in the early morning.
This might be a good idea, if I can make myself get out of bed. But honestly, bedtime aside, it also makes me nervous to be on the running path when there's no one else around---it's isolated and sometimes people have been robbed...
And I don't want to run on the concrete sidewalk, with my feeble knees.
Or, I could just see if I could acclimate: drink a lot of water, go slowly, and go short---just 1 mile, instead of my usual 2 miles, or maybe even less at first.
I honestly don't know if this could work--will my body adjust, or will it just be miserable? but it appeals to me most. Then I could go at my usual time--after I get up and drink coffee.
I think I will try it this and find out.
P.S. Those animals, above, are red pandas.
For the past two weeks––now, sadly, entering my third week––I've jogged only once a week.
Mostly because I hate humidity and we're in swamp season now, which here in MN lasts a good 3 months.
And now it's hot, too, heading into the 90ºs...
No!
OK, that was easy: even if I have a hard time doing it, even if I'm not doing it, I WANT to jog.
I truly like it, me and my body out shuffling along.
And I like the effects---being able to run for the bus, for instance, board it, and not have to act in front of the other passengers like, Oh, me? Are you kidding? I can easily run half a block! No prob!
...when really I'm smothering the need to gasp like a fish.
So, then, what?
Well, I can go to the gym and jog on the treadmill or the track.
These are OK options, but one of the great things about jogging is it doesn't require a trip to the gym. Jogging is a trip: I've even jogged to the gym for weight-lifting class a couple times.
"I've even jogged to the gym for weight-lifting class"?
This is ridiculously misleading: I sound so active! so athletic!
No, and no.
In the past couple weeks, every day I've been
1. sitting at the computer for 8 hours, "working" (i.e., e-mailing! No, also, really working, researching history of sanitation, for the publisher, which means, you know, following intriguing wisps of facts down sewers leading to distantly related topics--
--like, did you know U.S. President James Polk died, at least in part, from cholera, after complaining of "a derangement of stomach & bowels"? He only lived 103 days after leaving office in 1849, the shortest presidential retirement in history)
2. sleeping 10 hours--really! the heavy wet air just knocks me out
3. and in the remaining 6 hours... um, what?
Chatting with Marz and eating and watching movies and feeling, more and more, the effects of gravity on bodies of water (mine).So, what then?
I could run in the early morning.
This might be a good idea, if I can make myself get out of bed. But honestly, bedtime aside, it also makes me nervous to be on the running path when there's no one else around---it's isolated and sometimes people have been robbed...
And I don't want to run on the concrete sidewalk, with my feeble knees.
Or, I could just see if I could acclimate: drink a lot of water, go slowly, and go short---just 1 mile, instead of my usual 2 miles, or maybe even less at first.
I honestly don't know if this could work--will my body adjust, or will it just be miserable? but it appeals to me most. Then I could go at my usual time--after I get up and drink coffee.
I think I will try it this and find out.
P.S. Those animals, above, are red pandas.
Don't go jogging until you have had your coffee; you'll regret it. And it will become a chore. And it won't be fun. And then, what's the point?
ReplyDeleteTrue words. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteFrancesca! From the dark ages when I ran, what I remember is:
ReplyDelete1. Running in heat is not as uncomfrtable as one would think, because you're creating your own breeze, like eriding a bike. (this one may be pure imagination on my part.)
2. I'm sure about this one: the running path is actually FULL of runners in the early morning- just because we're not there, it doesn't stop these early risers from their disciplined schedules....
Ha, Laura: true IF I ran fast enough to create a breeze, maybe... :)
ReplyDeleteMaybe people are running on the lake paths, but the Greenway is spookily empty in the early mornings around here. I could bike to the lake and run tho... that's an idea... Thanks!