Thursday, March 12, 2009

Running, an Update

I continue to run. I try to go three times a week. If I only go once, I figure it's OK, I'll go more next week. Unlike any other time in my life when I've tried to run with any regularity this time I know that I'll keep going back out even after a week away because this time I'm not running for some abstract goal of weight loss or "getting in shape," which really should be translated as "having smaller thighs." (As if.) This time, I'm running for my bones. Back in November I was told if I didn't do weight bearing exercise, they could get weak, so I can hope they don't or I can do weight bearing exercise. Not one to trust the benevolence of the universe, I'm choosing the exercise.

A few weeks ago I read this Gina Kolata piece in the NY Times about women running. In it, she describes a woman who at 48 went out for her first run and came back exhilarated. I have to say, that really hasn't been my experience. But still, I go. And yesterday, for the first time, I went running and about two-thirds of the way through I realized that it didn't totally suck. 'Maybe,' I thought to myself, 'maybe in a year this will actually be fun.' Here's to hoping.

2 comments:

Sue Dickman said...

Hey, I think we're on the same wavelength this week. I just wrote about something similar on my blog the other day (and linked the same Gina Kolata article). And that's excellent about the not-sucking. I haven't run outside yet this year; I'm still plodding away on the treadmill, trying to get back to where I was in the fall before I got sidetracked by my hurt leg and other things. I'd hit the not-sucking point last summer but not since. Watching "What not to wear" on the treadmill had been the main thing to get me through, but the TVs have been broken this past week. Yesterday, I listened to Trollope on my iPod (Barchester Towers), which kind of worked, but, shallow as it may seem, I think I like WNTW better as a distraction. Ah well.

Robin Aronson said...

It's funny because I thought of you as I wrote it. I have to admit that running outside is just heaven. And, as I've blogged, sometimes I go so slow that if I went any slower I'd be sitting, but so it goes, I keep going. And, I have to agree with you --if only in theory I'd much prefer WNTW to audio Trollope when running!