A Jog at Nighttime

I spellchecked, and nighttime is a word. So is spellchecked.

We ran Thursday evening. Time? I forget. It was dark. You could see in people's windows from our stretch point. Route? The usual. The point?

ah...

I realized why I hadn't been blogging about running. For a similar reason to why I started my other blog, because I felt basically overwhelmed, disorganized, and creatively stuck. So anyhow, now I'm catching up on these blogs BEFORE my run tonight with Matt.

But Thursday evening we had a good run, at a jogging pace, but it was good, as I recall. Matt talked a lot about music. And then I talked a lot about something because I remember I got a muscle spasm in my diaphragm or my intercostals or something.

Friend from the Winter

I should be able to remember this run since it was only last Wednesday but...

Hmm...

Oh! It rained. And I overslept. Was that it? One of these runs I'm writing about now I overslept for. And for one of them it rained. Perhaps it was the same one.

7:00am, which turned into waking up at 7:10. Matt ringing the buzzer at 7:11. And leaving at 7:22am. That must have been this day. Maybe it was raining too.

Not as messy as it was when winter was melting, just some rain drops falling from above. I hardly noticed them. And...was this the day we saw the man with NO walking sticks?

I think it was because it was morning! We had gone over the hill, under the bridge, and were heading back around when a man who was jogging with a shuffle step perpendicular to our path called out, "hey, our you our friends from the winter?!"

hell, yeah. I thought. it's the man with walking sticks! But without the walking sticks! We said it was indeed us. And then he challenged us to a race in a month. Man! What motivation. And what progress he has made!

I think we ran the usual route.

A Run to the Diner

Matt and I ran to the Chicago Diner to meet Peter for Brunch. We left at roughly 9:30, stretched, and got there at roughly 10:30. Eric wasn't running because he had injured his...right 5th metatarsal, was it? Pete didn't run because...his ankles have been hurting him. Paula was in Springfield or something.

Running. I don't remember much, really, it wasn't that fun. Running when you haven't been running isn't that fun.

Right? Everyone knows that. But the FUNNY things was that Matt and I were matching:

Blue running shoes (now that I have my new Brooks).

Blue pants with white stripe(s) on the side. (he had one stripe, I had two)

White longsleeve shirts.

But not only that--we both had our Hustle up the Hancock white long sleeve shirts on!

And then Matt was going to order the same thing as me: Green "Eggs" (tofu) and Ham (fake meat), but decided against it and ordered the same thing as Peter instead (the French Toast Combo).

Hah!

A Run in Portland, OR

Time of departure: 7:00 am
Return: 7:50am
Route: North of the hostel, south of the hostel, east of the hostel, and back to the hostel
Running buddy: Alan Watts
Clothing: long jogging pants and t-shirt

How did I feel? Okay.

What do I like about running? Not sure, I think it felt like a commitment.

So I'm trying to catch up on my running blogs. I'll post this of the date of the run, but it is actually April 2nd. But I've had requests, and I seem to not be posting new blogs so...

Here's the first one. I ran one time when I was in Oregon. It was in Portland, around the neighborhood where the hostel (pictured above) was. This is in the SE quadrant if you don't know but wanted to know.

It was a pleasant run, challenging mentally because I hadn't run in awhile (haven been sick and all). The air was cool and damp in that decidious rainforest kind of way. It started to rain just as I was returning to the hostel. The houses in the area were beautiful (Victorian style? I don't know these things. But they were beautiful). I saw many that I would live in if given the chance. There were lots of flowers in bloom. Lots of hills. And the air was just fantastic to be breathing.

This one's for Eric.

Time of departure: 7:21am
Return: 9:03am

Temperature: 42F
Lake Temp: 36F-37F

Route: Mostly the usual.
Approx Distance: 5-ish miles
Running buddy: Matt. God bless his patient soul.
Clothing: Tights, shoes, wicker, breaker, socks, bad attitude, 2 kleenex, 2 cough drops, rain drops.

The Drive Activity: loud, crowded, & obnoxious.
People tally:
18 walkers
9 runners
31 bicyclists
3 dog-walkers
2 dog-tenders at beach

What did I eat pre-run? some water, 1/2 banana, 2 dates, some water
How did I feel? I felt like crap.
What do I like about running? I don't remember.

_______________________________________________

So, I could try to romanticize the whole thing. But that would be lying. Because truly, this run just sucked. Royally. Awfully. Painfully. Like at one point I just wanted to cry, and maybe I did cry, "I want my mommy..." Like how my mom would tell how it was when she was in Spain and they were staying in an unpleasant apartment where the shower would rain over everything...and she was a adult woman crying for her mom... Because it was brutal. And I felt sad.

First of all, I didn't want to wake up. So I started with a case of bad-running-buddy-guilt. Second, I was coughing like some sort of machine gun. Constant. Rapid. Out of control. Third, and this really isn't a big deal by itself, but it was raining. And the coughing combined with the rain just made me feel pathetic. Fourth, my legs had forgotten, in their infinite sickness, how to run. Fifth, I was coughing and hacking up parts of my lungs. Sixth, Matt WASN'T coughing. He got sick AFTER me. He was he NOT coughing. Was he NOT coughing just to spite me? It's possible. He does have the self-control. And he does do things just to spite me.

Matt's self-control. It's unbelievable. We had a no-coughing contest over the weekend. Of course he won. Of course. I would never bet against Matt if the thing being done had anything to do with will power, because I'm quite sure the guy is unbeatable. I've never met anyone else EVER in my entire life who could top Matt in this department.

Anyhow. I was able to get it together enough to string together a couple of miles with minimal coughing. It rained much of the time. The snow had melted. That was another thing that made me feel sad. Since my last run, everything had melted and drained away. The ground was still soft and a little muddy at times, but there were no more seas of goop and slurpee. The white of the snow? All gone. Replaced by yellow grass. So sad. I feel like I missed out on a critical transition from winter to spring. In my delirium of illness and disease winter gave way to spring and I missed it.

Not that I'm asking for another snowfall in order to allow me a second chance to capture this experience. I'm not that sad about it.

The Christmas tree pile is smelling mighty strong again. I'm sure there were lots of smells along the way to observe and take notice off. Lots of mud and rain to smell. But I was more focused on the inner environment of my body and so didn't observe such things. I didn't observe the people either. Matt was the sole keeper of the count (and do you see what high numbers!?). Mostly I meditated on not-coughing and we didn't do much conversing. When I would say something to Matt he'd say, "hold on, I'm updating my count...16 walkers...8 runners..." I'm glad he had the mental stimulation of juggling all those numbers.

And I have nothing left to say. This is short because it is just too sad.

Run around Central Park, NYC!

Time of departure: 11:00am-ish. We had had a late night the night prior.

Temperature: 50s, I think.
Environmental Observation: Sunny with a bright blue sky. A beautiful, beautiful day. Perfect running weather.

Route: From Bernie’s house to the loop around Central Park, then back to Bernie’s. Here's a map of the loop.
Approx Distance: 6.5-7ish miles
Running buddies: Matt and Eric. And Bernie too for the first half.
Clothing: Athletic pants and a t-shirt. It was warm! Oh, what to wear?! But this was an adequate choice.

People tally: There were way too many to count, what with it being a sunny warm Saturday morning in Central Park! But a tally would have included: walkers, runners, cyclists, people with dogs, Lacrosse players, figure skaters, little hockey players, carousel riders…

What did I eat pre-run? I forget. Part of a Luna/Cliff bar? Perhaps some dried cherries?
How did I feel? The first half sucked, my body felt all out of wack. But once I got warmed up I felt awesome. I did feel some pressure in my knees for the last 2 miles or so. My quads were wicked-sore the next day, but I also was getting sick so some of the leg pain may have been fever induced. It's difficult to say.
What do I like about running? Oh, I like the competition.
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There is so much I wanted to write about this run. But then I got sick. And it is now Wednesday and I’m still sick. How do I write a cheerful, happy, fun-run-in-the-sun blog when I’m dripping and sweating and shivering and glassy-eyed?? Good question.

But I do recall when I started this run I felt pretty crappy too. I recall the muscles in my legs felt pretty whinny, unhappy, and uncoordinated. I made the boys stop after 1½-2 miles so I could stretch, I hoped that would balance them out a bit. Nope. Probably 2½-3 miles into it I recall saying to Matt, “This sucks.” Nothing felt good about running. I knew Eric must be out of earshot for surely he would have reveled in my negativity. “But I run the sucky runs so that I can have the runs that feel oh, so good.” There, that’s more positive, and that was the motivation I needed to keep running, for the promise of better runs yet to come. I had no expectation that it would feel better in that same run. But that is how it seems to work. No matter how awful I feel in the beginning, if my cells have juice, eventually (like after 4-5 miles) things start to click into place.

I recall we were on the east side of the reservoir, when I had to do some fancy footwork to dodge people and puddles, that I started having a good time. I think I enjoy changing up the tempo and rhythm of my feet. I recall running down hill at one point, trying to keep abreast with a much faster runner. And then the delightful trail through hilly woodland on the north end of the park! How fun! We don’t have anything like this on the lake front. Nothing but manicured trees in Chicago.

Then we came to, if I’m not mistaken, in the upper west corner of the park, just past the ice skating rink, a lot big hills and lots of tall flights of stairs. Matt of course took it all like the antelope he truly is, but it kicked my ass, and Eric’s too. Bernie had sense enough to have turned for home by this point. We certainly don’t have hills combined with lots of stairs in Chicago.

And then something happened. Well, I know what happened. Eric and Matt started talking condo talk. My eyes glazed over, I got bored, and so I had to run faster. So they ran faster. I could still hear them. So I ran faster. And so it went. Until Eric said something about me being really quiet. Not as talkative as I usually am. Something about me being in the zone? The zone. A meditation on the rhythm of my feet. Tuning out nearby conversation. Somewhere in the back of my mind, counting down streets until we would get to Bernie’s street. Measuring my breath. Turning up the pace whenever I got too comfortable with the one I was at. Playing the with the mechanics of my body, how my feet articulate with the ground.

And then Eric may have said something about me running fast that flipped a switch inside of me. People ask, are you competitive? And my first inclination is usually to answer no. Afterall, I don’t engage in competitive sports. The thing I hated most about swim team were the swim meets because I felt so sick with nerves before them. I prefer discussions to debates, because I get too emotionally involved. But then, who is always walking around talking about push-up competitions. Would I have felt so sick before swim meets if I WASN’T competitive? And Eric has to only mention something about running fast, and I think, “oh, you want to run fast? Let’s see how fast we can run.” Of course, Matt is not fair competition, so there would be no fun in racing him. But Eric, I could someday outrun Eric if he doesn’t start doing his mid-week runs. (And I get over this sickness that has me couch-ridden).

So, yea, I am competitive. Eric made some comment about me running fast. And that was all the motivation I needed. This was the fastest few miles of running I’ve done since early in my
military days. And way more fun.

Then we were stopped at a light, but the traffic was clear, so I went on ahead. I think I was a bit out of my mind because, well, because I think I was. I was dodging people and jumping up on the steps of the museums I was passing, doing little dances with my feet. Those old movies with tap dancing on steps came to mind. I reached a street that I knew was past Bernie’s street, I turned around, I didn’t see them. Then, there was Matt. And then Eric. Ready for a cool down? No? Okay, let’s keep running then.

My face was bright red when we got back. I haven’t looked like that all winter.

Cloudy with a Chance of Slurpee

Time of departure: 7:00am
Return: 8:43am
Sunrise: 6:26am
Sunset: 5:41pm
Phase of the moon: Waxing Gibbous, 95% of moon illuminated, Rises at 3:30pm

Temperature: 34F-37F
Wind Chill: 29F
Dew Point: 32F
Humidity: 86%
Lake Temp: 33F-36F

Route: The now-usual off-trail run
Approx Distance: 6 miles
Running buddy: Matt
Clothing: RCW with tights

The Drive Activity: Congested
Dog beach Activity: zip
People tally:
2 Walkers
0 Runners
3 Cyclists
4 People with dogs
1 Poet

What did I eat pre-run? 1 cup water, ½ banana, 1 date, swig of OJ
How did I feel? Awesome. Freaking awesome. Though my right flexor digitrum longus, I think it is, was giving me some pain. But the thing about running in the conditions we were running in is that it was getting iced ALL the time.
What do I like about running? It’s a freaking adventure, man! And if we’re not going run (note: zero runners today) who is going to bear witness??? And that’s what this is about, isn’t it?? The universe bearing witness of itself. Golly, WHO am I??? I think I'm hungry.
________________________________

First of all, I have to apologize for my last blog. Yes, I was on a soapbox. One of my all-time favorites, in fact. Yes, it was because I myself was feeling kind of crappy. Yes, I was whiny and complain-y. Yes, that’s as bad as it gets with me. I considered taking it down, cleaning it up, or posting a follow up damage-control blog, but, well, decided that sometimes I get like that and that would just have to be okay.

On to today’s run. It started with me looking out the windows and seeing rain hitting the panes of glass. You’re kidding right?? Okay, maybe this is the flooding rain Eric had said was coming. So I checked the temperature. 34F. Do you know what this means? Do you know what I knew this meant? It meant it’s going to be messy. “Characterized by a dirty, untidy, or disordered condition.” M-E-S-S-Y. Messy.

Without a running buddy, chance of me running? 0.7%. With a running buddy? 100% That is the beauty of a buddy, especially a buddy you don’t live with, you don’t talk to immediately prior to leaving, and who is as reliable as Matt is. I just know that at 7:00am + (the time it takes to run 4 blocks) Matt is going to be waiting for me. And if I’m not there, well, it means I’m not cool. I couldn’t hack. I couldn’t get my crap together to get out the door and be there. So I go.

Also, Matt would never let me live it down if I wimped out because of the weather. And besides, I get a strange high off of running when it doesn’t make sense to be even outside.

I go, in my new and improved RCW, out into the elements. Are you familiar with the book, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs? It’s a fun book. With that in mind, it’s as if it rained Slurpee. Like the slushies Eric and I used to get at K-Mart or Sonic in Champaign, or are those called something else…? Anyhow, there was a ¼ to ½ inch or more of slushy on all the sidewalks. By the time I reached Matt my shoes were good and wet. By the time Matt and I reached our stretch point…

Oh, dear, we took a “what’s water resistant” inventory. Not much, was our conclusion. My wind breaker might have been at some point but I’ve had it for 9 years or so now. My tights? Not really, but I would rather wear wet tights over something that was baggy and wet. Matt’s pants and sweatshirt? Certainly not. But the biggest water absorbers? My socks, of course. My feet were so wet that it almost seemed like we might as well run in the slush, except for the wet suit phenomena. A wet suit, of course, works because it holds a layer of water against your skin that your body then warms up. This now-warm water trapped under the wet suit acts as insulation. It was the same with my socks. They were wet socks, but my feet weren’t really COLD. But with every step in slush, new COLD water was rushing in. I moved that we abandon path when my 8 little toes started to go numb and considered breaking off. No need for that.

So we ran off trail. But it was slushy and squishy and muddy and fun times there too! Which is why I decided to round up to 6 miles today. Because we spent so much time zigzagging around deeper pools of mud and slush, I think we must have added an extra ½ mile on.

Remember what I wrote recently about being bored with the conditions? About how a particular run had been adventurous, but would be more so with changing conditions? About wanting some mud or something?

Never underestimate the power of intention. Because today we had changing conditions AND mud. It started out with rain. Then it stopped raining and it got really windy. Which was actually a nice thing because my windbreaker dried in the wind. And then, get this:

THE SUN CAME OUT. It’s always interesting to me when the sun comes out and I realize, “oh, yeah, sun.” It had been cloudy for so long that I’d forgotten what the sun was like. I’d forgotten that the sun even existed. Of course, it could be that just the other day it was sunny, I’m not sure, but regardless, I had that feeling.

And so I started singing and dancing a little, trying to make up cadences about the sun, trying to remember old Army cadences, settling on “When the Saints Go Marching In” and a made-up one-line song/cadence that goes “hey-heeey, Sun-shine…” Matt was giving me stranger looks than he usually does. I think it was the dancing that really did it, I don’t usually dance that much while we’re running, or maybe it was me saying, “I want to pump…you up!” in a deep voice. Yea, that could have been it. But, I wasn’t bored at all this run! And Matt and I weren’t even talking as much as usual, nor about anything all that insightful like the history of the I-IV-V progression or the source of the dissonance in a V7 chord and tritones and whatnot.

This was a good run.

See? I love running in inclement weather, it gives me a strange and euphoric high. Who needs drugs when you’ve got slurpee in your shoes?