Saturday, May 27, 2006

Running, etc.

I'm running outside again without any pain. Only 20 minutes for the time being. For those who don't know, I had been suffering from really bad shin splints for over a year. I would start to run, my shin would seize up 5 minutes into it, and then when I stopped running, I wouldn't be able to flex my foot. I tell people it felt like somebody has cut your leg off at the knee and replaced it with a peg leg.

What changed? I think when the shin splints started, I went back into running too quickly after having not in quite some time. So my muscles weren't prepared to take on the weight I had gained. I've worked myself back in slowly, and it's going well.

I love running. Maybe that's not quite accurate. There are days I love running. And there are days where my legs each weigh 100 pounds. I love knowing that at any moment, I could stand up and run for an hour. I was at that point in college. I'd like to be there again. There's such a sense of power. Isaiah 40:31 takes on a whole new meaning: "They will run and not grow weary." You have a tangible idea of what that can feel like. You get to the end of your run and you can keep going.

There will be some who read this who will say, "I wish I could exercise, but..." To those, I offer encouragement by taking a page from the Apostle Paul and saying to you that I am the laziest of the lazy. Many have been the days that I pass up the opportunity to exercise because the TV or the internet or my bed distracts me. It's simply easier not to. And then I run a couple of days later, a week or two maybe, and suddenly I wonder why I didn't start earlier.

Because it's habit. To get in is hard, to get out is hard, and to get back in is hard. Those first two weeks, you've got to be absolute in your commitment. There must be no, "I'm too tired" or anything of the like. Those first two weeks, those thoughts are deadly. But after those two weeks, you realize that being tired is not an excuse. You can still exercise if you're tired. And that it's far more hazardous to stop. You begin to exercise for your mental health. At least I do. I know how I'll feel if I don't. Talk to anyone who exercises regularly and then can't. There are almost no words to describe.

You've been flying and somebody takes a baseball bat and knocks you out of the sky. It happened to me recently. I had a minor injury beginning of April, got out of the habit, and I just got back in. I think. Talk to me in a week or two.

Start today. If you're interested. I'm as guilty as the next person for the "I'll start next week" goal. 9 times out of 10, next week comes and goes. Don't go great guns. See my personal battle with shin splints about that. Do what you can. My girlfriend started running with me. When she went to get her shoes, the guy told her to start with 4 minutes running, 1 minute walking. Another person I've heard from started with 1 min run, 1 min walk. Do what you can. And don't run in Airwalks or anything like it. That's how I started and that's dumb.

I've had discussions about whether or not you should weigh yourself of not. I used to not weigh myself. My thought was, "I want to do this for myself. I don't want to judge my success by how much weight I've lost." You know what that's like? Trying to train a dog without a treat. If you exercise regularly, you will lose weight. You will be more conscious about what and how you eat. If that doesn't appeal to you, maybe use a tape measure.

Point being, don't use the mirror. If you don't use something else, you will use the mirror, and the mirror lies. You know when someone you don't see very often has a baby or gets a pet, and the next time you see them, you comment on how much child/pet has grown and they say, "I suppose they have"? That's what the mirror is. It's you living with yourself everyday. Don't do that.

Time. If you want to do this, you have time. Nothing more must need be said.

Um, I've come to the end. These are just things I've learned. Or things I know and haven't quite learned. Whatever. Maybe I'll see you running on the lake.