Exercising....Cause Running Is Hard

My running posts have disappeared, and there is a reason for it. Okay, there are a couple of reasons for it, and none of them are particularly good, but here they are:

1) As a family, we have been really busy. My partner has been out of town a lot, which means I haven't had a lot of time to go out by myself.

2) I hit a wall. Learning to run a mile has taken more time than I, or the internet, thought it should. Turns out, I run a lot faster than most people, and this has led to my speed increasing in short spurts, but not my endurance or distance.

3) My shoes hurt my feet.

For the last two weeks, we have been taking family walks instead. So far this has developed into a great routine. My daughter reminds Ryan and me if we slack off. She has ridden her bike all on her own for about a hundred yards. The dog acts happier and more relaxed. And I am actually running farther than ever. Running with a kid on a scooter forces me to slow down, but it also forces me to go farther because the kid isn't ready to stop after a quarter mile (my limit for running on my own). The kid wants to keep going and going and going and going. It even seems to have helped Ryan who is wanting to lengthen his own runs, but becomes bored after a 5k or so. Ryan runs on his own and joins us on our slower walk/runs. Also, my frugality has run headlong into Ryan's rationality; it doesn't matter if my shoes are worn out yet or not, I can't wear shoes that hurt my feet. It's counter-productive. So I have new shoes.

Running 3

I haven't been out running for two weeks. My new tattoo kept me in for a few days, and then I wasn't feeling great, but tonight I finally went out. The night is lovely, ya'll. Really, really lovely.

I like to run while listening to music, but for the first half of my run/walk, I listened to the sounds of crickets and the wind through the trees. The world has stressed me out recently. You probably know the list--gun violence, the Steubenville rape trial, the 17 million children who are hungry in the United States right now, the sequester. I could go on, but I'm not going to. My point is that running is a good distraction. It reminds me of the good things that exist in the world--mostly non-human things. Like this tree, which is beautiful and my favorite color:

Sometimes it is good to get out. It's good to exert yourself. It's good to turn off the computer, switch off the news. Not so that you can ignore the bad or sad or awful parts of the world, but so that you can come back to these problems with a clear head, a strong body, and the energy to keep fighting against the wrongs in the world. 

Running - 2

I usually run at night. My partner, R, runs in the morning because I like to sleep as long as I can. I like my night runs. At night, the world is quiet. It's cooler, which is great for me--a medication I take makes me extremely susceptible to the heat. Beyond all of that, I just like nighttime. While I run, I listen to audio books. Right now, it's Duma Key by Stephen King. I feel like it makes me run faster because it's scary, but that's probably wishful thinking.

This week has been hard. I've had two severe headaches, so my running has been mediocre at best. However, the nights have been beautiful.

The moon was full, and it was gorgeous. It made me wish I had my good camera rather than my phone camera, but trying to run with a camera wouldn't work.

After my run I like to cool down outside. I'm lucky enough to have a Banana Hammock made by my good friend, B. These hammocks are great because they can be hung anywhere. It's revolutionized my cool down. I can combine two of my loves--reading and hammocking. It might be fair to say that I run so I don't have to feel guilty about spending my evenings reading in my bright pink hammock.

P.S. I am in no way affiliated with Banana Hammock Republic. B's product is amazing, and it makes my life better.

P.P.S. How cool is Florida? It's January, and I'm relaxing outside in shorts and a hammock.

Running - 1

My doctor wants me to exercise for at least 20 minutes, 3 times a week. He hopes that it will help alleviate stress and that in turn it will help reduce my headaches. I'm all for it. I have a personal goal of being able to run a mile before my birthday, which is coming up. It actually works out pretty perfectly since a lot of beginner running advice starts with 20 minute workouts, 3-5 times a week. So that's what I've been working on. And man is it hard. I mean, really hard. Where did my ability to run go? I'm not sure, but it's definitely missing.

The bright side of the whole trying-to-run-unsuccessfully thing is this: it feels good. I mean, don't get me wrong, it feels horrible. My lungs burn; my muscles ache; I smell bad--but it feels wonderful in this weird, achey, awesome way.

It's also made me aware of how beautiful my neighborhood is. I know that the world is beautiful--I mean it's the world, it has to have something going for it--but there are occasions when I forget how lovely my surroundings are on a day-to-day basis. As an artist I want to capture that feeling for days when I forget. Thanks to technology, this is a fairly simple process: I'm going to run with my phone, and instead of only listening to music, I'm going to photograph the things that strike me. By the end of the year, I'm hoping to have a collection of photos showing both the places and distances I am running. Here are a few photos from my recent run:

The driftwood was in the most barren of all yards--barren except for a pile of driftwood. The stingrays are swimming in another neighbor's yard; this one a far cry from barren, but the stingrays are my favorite yard decorations that I have seen to-date. It helps that they appear to be made by hand. New project idea: weld yard decorations. Lots and lots of yard decorations.