Getting Back Into Running

Exercise.

The word that so many people love to hate. And I will, shamefully, include myself among them. It's always (well, for the last couple decades) satisfied me to say to myself "I'll exercise another day." when faced with the realization that I should exercise.

Why do we hate to exercise? I have hear many excuses, such as 'I hate to sweat', 'I hate being too hot', 'I hate getting sore muscles', 'I hate getting out of bed in the dark'. The list goes on. And frankly, I have used all of these and more as excuses not to exercise.

But, as you may have read in my previous posts, I have been trying to 'turn over a new leaf', as they say. Become a better person. A big step towards that goal is exercise. So, I am exercising again. I am starting slowly and hopefully I will soon work my way back to running.

I used to run in high school. It didn't last long, because for one reason or another (which I will not divulge in this blog), I was made to leave the cross country team before I even went to a meet. But I digress. Even though I stopped regular running in high school, that doesn't mean I don't like running. On the contrary. For me, running is a way to clear my head (and goodness knows it always needs clearing). It's peaceful for me. I usually don't wear headphones when I run, unless I'm running on the treadmill at the gym, and that's just to mask all of the 'noise.' I like to hear my breathing. I like listening to nature, and I also like to know when the occasional car is going by, simply for self-preservation.

Here's a sample of what one of my runs is like. I would like to think many runners experience much the same:

My alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m. Without pausing to think about how nice another 30 minutes of sleep would be, I roll out of bed in the dark and fumble around for my clothes. After I'm dressed, I head down the stairs and out the front door. The sun is just starting to rise, casting a pale orange glow over everything. Good, I can at least see where I'm going without a light.

The air is chilly, but not uncomfortable. Refreshing. I hate stretching, but it really is necessary, so I do it. And then I am finally off. I live on a hill, so my heart rate goes up immediately as I run to the top of my street. As I pass by my neighbors houses and see their cars, their yards, what they've left in their yards - I smile. We don't see our neighbors very often, if at all. It's nice to know that they are people just like us.

I reach the top of my hill, and even though I'm breathing heavily, I don't stop. I slow my breathing down and pace it with my steps. Breathe in 4 steps, breathe out 4 steps, breathe in... I learned this technique in high school. It's a great way to slow down your heart rate and improve your endurance.

I can hear the sounds of the morning through my breathing - squirrels chatter at me as I pass, birds chirp in the trees, a dog barks at me from inside a house. I hear highway noise in the distance, but it's too faint to be annoying. Half a mile down, half a mile to go (remember, I'm starting slowly.) Cars are starting to appear on the road as people make their way to work. I wave at them as they drive by. Sometimes they just stare at me or ignore me, but sometimes they wave back. I smile as I wonder if those who wave back are being friendly, or are they saying 'Ha! I'm glad that's you out there and not me!" 

I'm sweating, now. And even though the air is warming around me as the sun rises farther into the morning sky, I remain cool. I am almost home, now, and as I approach my driveway a feeling of accomplishment washes over me like the light breeze that is slowly drying the sweat from my forehead. I feel clear and focused. I've got plenty of oxygen running through my veins. I am ready for the day.

So there it is. That's what it's like. At least for me. And I can't wait for it to be a regular occurrence. Now, remember I said I haven't run regularly since high school. I have tried in the past to get started again. But it never worked, because I used to want to just pick where I left off. Well, anyone who exercises knows that you can't "just pick up where you left off." You have to start slow and work your way back.

And, like many men my age, I've simply gotten lazy. I mean, it's so much easier to sleep late, eat and drink what you want-when you want, and just sit in front of the television than it is to actually do a bit of work to improve yourself, right? Well, yeah, it is easier. But here's the thing - and I have finally started to pound this into my thick skull - the longer you work at being lazy, the harder you'll have to work at shaping up when you finally decide to stop being lazy.

So I have officially begun my "I'm not gonna be lazy anymore" campaign, starting with exercise (I'll work on the "getting things done" part later.) It's going to take a while. After all, I have a couple decades to make up for being lazy. But I'm gonna do it.

So, if you're out driving (or running) around the Del Cerro/Nelson/East Elm street area early in the mornings, look for me. And if you wave (or even if you don't) I won't judge.

I would love to hear your exercise, or 'back to exercise' stories! Feel free to comment below.