May 28th...or...If Exercise Was Easy, Everyone Would Do It

I fell off the running wagon after my half-marathon in February.  I've heard that it's actually quite common to take a break after running a long race that required months of training beforehand.  Or maybe I just told myself that so I wouldn't feel bad about hiding my running shoes in the back of the closet.  And I'd be lying if I said that I couldn't seem to find the opportunity to get out and hit the pavement.  I can do three miles in a half hour, so there's really no excuse to not get in a run a few times a week...but somehow I found plenty of them.

Running is not overly enjoyable for me.  I don't like being out of breath, I don't like sweating, and truth be told, I just really don't like exercising in general.  For a good portion of my life thus far, I didn't really need to exercise.  I moved around just fine, and I was able to regulate my weight by just eating less.  But as I get older, it's not just about weight anymore.  My job requires a certain level of fitness.  I feel better and I look better at a certain level of fitness.  I can do more physical things with less pain and suffering at a certain level of fitness.  It sounds like a no-brainer.  But dangit, if it wasn't for the sweating and the breathing and everything else, I wouldn't have a problem with exercising.  It wasn't so long ago that my friend's daughter asked me to push her on their tree swing, and I'll be damned if I didn't get out of breath while doing it, and also had a sore back afterwards.  That right there was a bit of a wake-up call that I needed to take better care of myself.  Because at 30 years old, being sore and out of breath after pushing a 50 pound kid on a swing is just not acceptable, and it's only going to get worse as I get older. 

So why running?  I've dabbled in lots of different kinds of exercise throughout the years...Tae Bo, treadmills, spin classes, aerobics, exercise bikes, yoga, weight-lifting classes...some or all of those required a gym membership, or frequent access to an exercise facility.  Unfortunately my line of work and my lifestyle doesn't always make it easy to find either of those things.  Some gyms don't do short-term contracts, or they charge exorbitant monthly fees for short contracts.  Sometimes the most accessible gyms were 10+ miles away.  Sometimes the gyms nearest me didn't have classes or facilities that resonated with me.  Running is something that I can do anywhere, and all I need is a good pair of shoes and great sports bra.  A shirt and shorts are nice to have too.  There's no excuse not to run if I have access to the clothes and a road.  And that's how I have to do most things in life...I sold my house when I started travel nursing so I wouldn't have an excuse to come back home when I hit a rough patch.  I try to keep healthy snacks in the house so I don't have an excuse to sit and tear through an entire bag of chips.  When the going gets tough, I have to decrease the options to one and just go with it.  It works most of the time.  I'm still Dorito-free!!  And at the very least, running is a great way to get outside, get some fresh hair, and take advantage of some natural Vitamin D.           

I recently got back into running while visiting friends in Florida in April.  My friend Ellen is a good motivator, as is Simon.  I was getting out about 4-5 times a week...if not for a run, then at least for a brisk walk.  I've got another half-marathon on the horizon in August, which is also motivation for me to lace up those runners.  I really wish I could find more 10-mile races.  I feel like the most available races are 5k, half-marathon, and full-marathon.  When I did the half-marathon in February, I wanted to quit at mile 10.  Things had been going really well up until that point.  Those last three miles were such a struggle, and thanks to the idiot designers of the race, all the hills came after mile 10.  Thanks for that, Disney...oh, and thanks for making us run the entire race on service roads, and finish by the dumpsters behind Epcot.  I'm not bitter or anything.  :(  And it's not like I was trying for a certain time or a certain pace...I just wanted to finish the thing with my body still mostly intact.  And for the most part, I did.  I don't know how that happened, but after finishing the race and taking a quick nap, I spent the rest of the day walking around Epcot with my friends.  It was like I had never run the race at all.   

Recently I was chatting about running with a girl I went to high school with, and she gave me some advice on running in minimal shoes (sometimes referred to as barefoot shoes).  I was really skeptical at first, because I've been wearing shoes that are really built up in the arches for years.  I have high arches and my feet also tend to pronate, or sag in at the ankles when I'm putting weight on them.  I figured that if I didn't have any support there, I would quickly be heading towards an ankle injury.  But I was curious and I did some research, I bought a pair, and I started walking in them.  I was amazed at how good they felt, at how I didn't get any blisters from them, and most importantly, how my feet don't pronate in them.  I have no idea why they don't, because if I throw on a pair of Converse my ankles are sagging so badly that they ache after only a few minutes of wearing.  There's something to the construction of the minimal shoes that somehow provides adequate support without interfering with my natural "barefoot" stride.  I did a four mile run/walk (mostly running) in them today, and everything was fine.  Better than fine.  My regular running shoes, at the very least, would have given me a blister (although less so now that I'm no longer running in cotton socks...that was part of the problem).  

Today I didn't hate running as much as I usually do.  Running here in Arizona is such a struggle.  At 7,000 feet of elevation, I'm literally gasping for air much quicker than usual.  I finish a run out of breath, with legs that aren't tired.  I'm forced to run a lot slower here to better regulate my breathing.  There are days when I just want to throw a little fit right on the trail and have Simon go get the car and come pick me up...which wouldn't work so well when we're miles out into the woods, but I still think about it anyway whilst chugging up a hill, dust in my mouth, feet tripping over rocks...it sometimes gets pretty unpleasant.  I think I've found the method that works best for me, and it's walking a little bit, then running a little bit more.  I don't think I'll ever be one of those runners who actually runs an entire race.  That sounds like too much work.  I'm okay with running most of a race.  As long as I do more running than walking, I'll be happy with myself.  And I think that's just what you have to do if you're going to be successful at anything in life.  I can't set my sights on beating anyone or anything...I just have to focus on finishing.  Because if I beat myself up too much over anything, I'll quit doing it because I can't stand the failures.  Going easy on myself with this whole running bit has really helped my attitude a lot.

In addition to running, Simon's sister gave me a list of random little exercises to be done in the house, either before or after a run, or just on their own.  Some days I skip the run and just do the exercises.  I've only been doing the exercises for a few weeks, and I'm already noticing that I'm toning up in areas that haven't been toned in quite a while...years even.  It's nice to see that all the pain and suffering is eventually worth it...hahaha!  And given that the exercises only take about 20-30 minutes to get through, there's no good reason that I can't get to them everyday.  

I remember hearing a quote once that went somewhere along the lines of 80% of exercising is getting the motivation to do it.  I think that's true.  At least it's true for me.  I'm not dealing with injuries, or access, or a tight schedule...I'm dealing with motivation, which should be the easiest obstacle to overcome.  Still working on it.  :)