Two weeks ago I had a hot flash. I worried that I had started to menopause and decided that I wasn’t ready for that. Instead I took up running. A couple of days later I realized I had a fever and was in the depths and throes of a common cold. The thing is I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to tell whether or not I’m in menopause but I do know that I’m coming up on the halfway mark of life so I might as well keep running.
Bear in mind. I hate running and for 40+ years I have sworn that I would never engage in long-distance running. When I think of runners I think of people in brightly colored, skimpy outfits running along a marathon route in packs. (Blecch.) But a couple of years ago I started to dream about running and I put it on the list of things to contemplate.
My first run was in a pair of Vans skateboard shoes along an undisclosed tree-lined hiking trail. If you’re thinking: “Mosquitoes,” “Ouch,” and “Shin splints,” you’re right on the money. I knew better than to actually run the first mile. Instead I ran for as long as I could (I counted to around 100 seconds) and then walked quickly until I felt I should run again. I knew that I didn’t want to create resentment towards running. Based on trail markers the first run was probably about a mile and a half.
A couple of days after that I read an article about beginning runners and learned that I had taken almost the perfect approach. Now I’m running for 2 minutes, walking for 4 minutes for 5 sets. I purchased a pair of trail running shoes and a pedometer. Thirty minutes of “running” on a trail = (roughly) 1.08 miles.
The next time I went for a “run” on a country road, I took my roommate’s kitchen timer. (& I think I broke it. Oops.) My most recent purchase: a stop watch.
Probability indicates that I will run that first mile in about a month.
What I like about running is that I have absolutely no idea where it’s taking me. I want to eat and drink like a 25 year old and this is the only way I can maintain that lifestyle. I want to stay off meds and out of the doctor’s office.
The one thing I’m struggling with is pace and form. There was this 23 year old dude (already blessed with a decent physique) who trotted past me the other day (on the street) and he had the best running form I have ever seen. You could tell by looking at him that he wasn’t struggling in the slightest. And (I'm surmising here)he could easily polish off (in one sitting by himself) a pint of ice cream, several drinks, and a large steak without gaining an ounce. I want all of that.
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