I asked when I began this journey.. when do you GET to the stage where you ENJOY running... and got various answers from different people. Tonight I went out in a thunderstorm..absolutely errr urinating it down ( ok so i DID think of another word) .. thunder and lightning....
it was elemental.. powerful....
pitch black though it was early evening , the rain falling so hard it was running in rivers down the street...
warm, summer rain... mmmm every so often a flash of lightning...a rumble of thunder
wonderful...
but having pulled a calf muscle last week.. and then run TOO soon... and aggravated it by not stopping as any normal person would do when 30 secs into first run it was sore.. insisting on carrying on to the finish.. so i left it a week this time... but in the intervening period.. i DID buy new , proper running shoes..and i was acheing to try them out.. ( in between just acheing) and it is with a HEAVY heart I have to say, yes , J J you WERE right, i should have done it got the gait analysis before now and bought proper running shoes.... yadda yadda...
OK to return to the point in hand.. so this time I strapped up my calf muscle.. TIGHT.. put on the new shoes..and headed off out into the warm almost tropical downpour...
I understand WHY people become addicted.. the sense of ' satisfaction' after i was able to complete was so intense.. the sense of loss when i couldnt get out there for a week..wanting to try out new shoes...so deep...
its strange, i've trained in gyms for many years.. and i do understand the ' good feeling' after exercise, but the intensity one feels after a 'good run' is really quite different, the sense of ' having overcome odds' quite peculiarly stronger than that id experience in the gym environment ( i guess the ' bad ' run knocks you down so much more too) i DO begin to understand why people become so addicted to it...
Aye , but here's the rub ( as Shakespeare might have said if he jogged) I still don't enjoy the physical process of running yet. Achievement of having run yes, experiencing a tropical downpour.. yes bring it on..(Think there is a possibilty of being a ' running stormchaser' ?) but i guess im still learning, still increasing my lung/stamina/muscle capacity for new exercise... so i await the ' pleasure in running' still. For fleeting minutes/seconds at a time.. i can see.. when you are there.. the legs are moving reasonably ok, you are in the middle of the countryside.. and just watching the world go by... maybe, it will get there...
but for now, there is just the challenge of the next run... get to the end of it...prove it to yourself....
So to those who may read this starting out.... carry on.. you CAN do it...
Written by
Anaverageman
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Well I have been told before now tennis ball works just as well... I saw foam rollers in shop when I bought the (ridiculously expensive) shoes...
Thought about them , then I saw the price and I said.. You are having a laugh!! The Celtic blood coursed through my veins , rose to my cheeks and I said, ' I'm not paying THAT for some foam rubber!!!
As to pain! Hah I LAUGH in the face of pain... I pull faces at agony... I crack jokes like James bond during torture.. Ha I say, 'can you scratch a little more to the left?' ( although more Sean Connery than Daniel Craig despite my profile banner) ...
I got one in the sale, but prior to that used the rolling pin wrapped in a camping mat. So yeah, improvisation works too.
As for your worries about addiction, well, yeah. But if you're that sort of personality you're going to get hooked on something and, as addictions go, one that improves your heart health and reduces stress is probably not so bad. I'd say embrace it. Make sure you're not getting too skinny and burnt out, and schedule in non-negotiable rest days, and just enjoy the rush. The real pain in the neck is that you might start having to run further and further, which eats up time, but if/when that happens you'll find you can get the same challenge/joy quicker by doing speed work or running technical trails. I think it's all good. We are who we are and nobody's perfect. Trying to squash personality traits usually ends in a mess!
I do have a worry about the level of 'addiction' possible to the post run high though, not sure its an entirely healthy thing, but that's for another day...
No 'bravo' required I'm afraid... New the storm was coming, you could feel it in the air... So I actually deliberately chose the time... I always feel the warm summer rain is such a wonderfully sensual, tactile experience on your skin... Its like you can feel the world around you has a ' tension' building up... Which only a thunderstorm can release...
Haha! Another addict in the making. Sounds like a magical run!
It took me a long time to enjoy the actual running but I can assure you that it will come. Even now there are days when I huff and puff - but always feel great for doing it.
Are you stretching carefully after your runs to help your muscles?
Stretching yes, calf, hamstrings, adductor and glutes...
But ( see my reply above) I don't want to become ADDICTED to anything.. I think I have an ' addictive personality ' by nature.. So, to be honest, the thought of becoming , as many of you say, ' addicted' to it' profoundly worries me .... I need to be in control not some 'addiction to a chemical high in the brain'
What a great post! So agree - I am starting to enjoy the run but look forward to the end of it and that sense of achievement. I know I always start off thinking 'will this ever get easier?' Your run sounds magical 😊
Thanks mother goose, I am fascinated to find at what stage I start enjoying it for its own sake rather than the achievement , I guess once my aerobic fitness or conditioning to new demands on muscles settles down and I can run with some speed
But its fun to find out what a spectrum of people and enjoyment levels we have...
I look forward to seeing all runners wearing 'ruffs, doublets AND hose in future then ' ... Well I have seen a few 'rough looking' ones already... ( myself included)
For me (and we all different) the enjoying the actual running part came when I was able to run at the same pace as I was in the previous 2-3 weeks but with my lungs being able to cope with it much better and, as a result, my breathing feeling comfortable.
Thank you peeps for cheering me up. Great post that. I was out there with you!
Currently laid on my recliner with an ice pack on my shin, contemplating a trip to the physio. I can't wait to hit the trail in the pouring rain. Like you say, it's elemental.
Like I said if i could order thunderstorms I would... Wouldn't care if I was running or walking in it.. But I do understand the frustration of being injured and holed up....
Cant you heal the injury with a Margarita? It has ice in it, you could occasionally play it on your leg, in between Medicinal Sips?
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Has anyone set out for a run in heavy rain?
Mmmm should l be doing more!!!
Gold Star For Running Bath. But there's a catch!
With apologies to Simon & Garfunkel...!!The Nine Week Challenge!
