Don't Compare

When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you.

Lao Tzu

Today was a big day for my running as it was a Sunday which is the traditional day for the "Long Run" in any training programme. You will often hear runners exclaim "Who is up for a long run?" or "I am doing a long run on Sunday, you coming?" and even "I did a long run at the weekend, boy it was hard!" The question of what exactly is a Long Run from a none runner is not often ventured as it opens up the floor for a running enthusiast to regale such stories of mud, blood, blisters and chafing normally around tea break when the non-runner is wishing they had never asked. So in fact, the long run, is an arbitrary distance that the runner sees in their training plan as the longest of the runs that week and can range from 1 to 40 miles.

Today I ventured out for my "Long Run" which was in my mind was a big ask considering I am on day three of my training plan and it was to run 5 miles (8 km). A few years ago this distance for me wasn't even considered only because I was doing such enormous distances that it was tiny in comparison . However, today was different, this was my marathon, and I had planned to run through the local woods  and then a loop of the nature reserve.

The Delightful Mrs S was very kind as she knew I didn't want to be seen by people I knew as I am a little upset by weight gain that I didn't want to be seen as a tub of lard on legs . The run wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be mainly because I mentally cut out the images of yesteryear but lived with the here and now. It was a very pleasant early Spring day today, the ground underfoot was soft but a pleasure to run on, the warm air lapping around me as I jogged along, walked the hills and ran the flats with my headphones playing a mixture of AC/DC and Tchaikovsky. 

So there we have it, a lovely spring run wearing my old faithful Vibram TrekSport a.k.a. Monkey Feet 2 and a note to myself to concentrate on the "short" stuff to get my cardiovasvular up to scratch for the next 3 weeks ready to step up and be happy with my level fitness and not others.

Like a wheezing old dog

I made a decision this week that I should start getting regular exercise again which has not been happening of late. I can blame it on so many things: Long hours at work, extra contracts lecturing, laziness or a plethora of other excuses. Mentally, I have been in a good place since my start at the Natural History Museum which is an amazing place but the demonic Black Dog is always close by but have been, with the help of my medication, managed to keep ahead of it. The medication has some side effects, for me, is a massive gain in weight and excessive tiredness with me being able to fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

This week I have had a break from lecturing on a Thursday evening and so went directly from work to the running track. Putting on my shorts I noticed they felt a little tighter than they used to and ventured out on to track-side to join the throng of other runners who were all chatting excitedly about their forthcoming marathons, training plans and injuries. I no longer get involved in these conversations as they tend to bore me as runners can be very opinionated about their own training experience and so I separated myself from the group and went about the business of running by myself.

I put on my headphones, something I have started to do when I am in groups, and ran very slowly so I could get a sense of what my body was telling me. After 1200 metres my breathing became more laboured and I started to wheeze, everything I expected, as my lungs started to clear. Taking a break at 1600 metres I chose to bring the pace down and push on but walk 100 metres every 300 metres, this seemed to do the job but I did feel that I wasn't so much as gliding through the air more barging it out of the way.

Early days but I do feel that if I stick to it my fitness will return but probably a lot slower now.

Onwards and upwards as they say.