Jogging for Coffee

I like to think about ways to make my runs less stressful and more relaxing.  Here are some ideas that haven't worked out so well for me (you may have better luck):

I save any coins I find along my route and when I've collected $3.85 I'm going to buy myself a latte from Starbuck's as a reward.  I have a coffee mug in my dresser drawer where I've been collecting the coins since I came up with this idea about a year ago.  As of today, I've accumulated 47 cents.

I try to catch up with anyone walking before they change course and leave my route.  The other day I was almost to the corner which marks the end of my run, when I saw a man walking up ahead of me.  He was walking briskly and I had to push myself to catch him.  I was finally at his right shoulder getting ready to pass him when he turned his head to the right and spit.

I used to run early in the morning before work so that I could get it out of the way and feel good for the rest of the day.  In the winter it's still dark outside but there's little traffic and I don't mind running in the rain or the cold.  One morning I was jogging along and tripped over a bump in the road, fell on my face and ended up with two black eyes, a scraped forehead, a bruised lip, and general facial swelling.

Slumping

          I've been pretty excited about the success I've had since I started a jogging routine at the beginning of January.  I was convinced that my new shoes were magic.  By the middle of February and I was able to consistently run my three mile-ish route three days a week, without stopping to walk.  I felt like I would be ready for a 5K at the beginning of summer.
          Then I started having off days.  I couldn't even make it through my short route without walking most of the way.  That had only happened once in January after sharing a bottle of wine with a friend the night before, but this time I couldn't figure out what had gone awry.  After the first bad day, I reminded myself that everyone has off days.  Unfortunately, my next run was also difficult.  Once again, I had to walk much of the way.  After doing so well for almost six weeks, it disappointing.  It kept happening until I'd accumulated five bad runs in a row.  Since I only run three times a week, that's almost two weeks of sloppy jogging.
          I felt like I'd been fooling myself.  I was thinking that I was too old to begin running, and that those last six weeks were a fluke.  I was going to tell my niece that I didn't want to run a 5K after all.  I really wanted to quit and each time I forced myself out on the road, I felt like I was wasting my time.
   Today was a run day and I dreaded it all day long.  When I got home from work I put on my shoes, sweats and a tee shirt and headed out.  My knees began bothering me almost immediately but I tried to stay relaxed and I kept going.  After a couple of blocks, I started to feel better, or at least I wasn't feeling bad and that was encouraging.  I kept going and I did it.  I ran my entire route at a pace I was happy with.  Perhaps I had made it through the slump.
          This Wednesday when I go out for my jog, I might have a good run or I might have a not so good run, but either one is okay.  If it's not so good, I'll remind myself that it happens like that sometimes.  If it's good, I'll enjoy it.  Above all, I will try to remember to take it one jog at a time.

In the Beginning

The hardest thing about jogging is the thing you fall on.  Just kidding.  The hardest thing about jogging is just getting out there.  The second hardest thing is to keep going.  In light of these two obstacles, I have established two guidelines to help me get out and run.

First, I tell myself that I can quit jogging at any time and start walking, or even turn around and go home.  My entire goal is to put on my shoes and hit the pavement.  If I quit, I still celebrate and feel good because I made it through the front door.  Since establishing this goal, I've never deliberately tested it.  Make no mistake, there have been a few times when I've jogged a couple of blocks and felt like I couldn't go any further so I walked home, but I've never quit because I felt like I earned something just by being out there.

Now that running is becoming a habit, I'm working on the second obstacle.  There are a million reasons to stop and walk:  it's windy, I don't feel right, traffic, people are passing me.  My rule is that I have to complete my route.  I can run, jog, walk, or crawl, but I have to stay on my route.  I try to stay relaxed and keep my mind off of my discomfort.  I sing to myself, I practice conjugating Spanish verbs or I try to empty my mind and think about nothing.  If I absolutely have to stop, I ask myself if I can take just five more steps, or if I can make it to that mailbox, or that tree, or lamp post.  Sometimes that helps me get past the temptation to stop and I jog to the end of my route.  Sometimes I don't but then I refer to my first rule which is that I can stop and walk at any time.

These guidelines have helped me run regularly for six consecutive weeks.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will continue.