Observations of an occasional runner
I had to drop my car off to the local garage this morning and it seemed like a good idea (at the time) to run home .
It was a lovely early-autumn morning and the people I passed seemed to be happy, which is not bad for a Monday!
2.08 miles in 21 minutes, 10.04/mile.
It seemed like a good idea at the time that I packed my runners for trip to Dubai.
However, I think it might have been better to have got out earlier in the morning to actually use them, before the temperature had risen to 35 degrees. I have great respect for Mister Broom, on all sorts of levels, but not least that he often runs (rather quickly) in the searing heat of Dubai!
By comparison I merely jogged out and down to the marina, then followed the curvy path past the myriad skyscrapers (including the one topped by our two-storey penthouse for the week), before seeking the shade on the beach side… at which point I relented and walked back!
2.76 miles in just under 33 minutes
I’ve written before about how well camoflaged our running machine is, such that I hardly notice it despite it being in prime real estate between the open plan sitting & dining rooms.
I wanted a run this morning, but I didn’t feel like going out!
One mile in 9 minutes 39 seconds.
Deep in the dark, in the maze of my mind
there’s a spring where my thoughts come babbling out
Some that are blue, some that are bright
and some that are dark, like the shock of a fright in the night
La la laa
These words from my song seemed pertinent this morning.
Just under 2 miles in just over 20 minutes… 10.10/mile.
It feels like the end of the summer… and also that my head needed a clear out from all the critical priorities juggling for position.
The morning was bright and still, with a vague mist forming in places to hint at the approaching change in season.
Just under 2 miles around the block in just under 20 minutes… 10.17/mile out and 9.37/mile back… 9.56/mile average.
Okay, so I was running around the local ‘hood again, and not deep in the woods at all.
But the neurons in my head have been firing up nicely recently, to first compose a piece of guitar music that even the amazing Lucas Cook might approve of, and to then put some half-decent words to it (my first new song lyrics since the beginning of 2022).
The words reference a place on the western edge of Washington State called La Push where lush rainforest gives way to a bright beach that takes the full force of the Pacific and regularly collects the remnants of waterlogged trees the size of articulated lorries.
Deep in the woods at the edge of the world
There’s a place where the waves come thundering in
Some that are blue, some that are tall
And some that come crashing to the surprise of us all
et al, la, la
My head has been full of other stuff too, recently, so I really needed a run this morning. It really wasn’t an appealing thought, as I sat in the teahouse with my coffee, but the sun was out in full force and I pushed on out the door.
I stuck to the short circuit so I could get back to my desk, but just over 2 miles in 19:31, 9.42 mins/mile, is a really good pace for me 🙂
Sitting in the teahouse this morning was really lovely, quadspresso in hand, listening to the waterfall gently splishing.
Running has been on my mind recently, for all of the reasons I mentioned a few weeks ago and this morning the planets aligned to actually make it happen.
My now-normal short circuit is just sufficient to keep me exercised, but today I added a short exploratory loop which marginally increased the distance… breaking a cognitively-limiting pattern.
In other news, I’ve lost count of the age of my running shoes, but they are still surprisingly comfortable, despite the slowly deconstructing inners and the only-distant memory of splodge. However, the guys at Run would not approve and I really must visit them soon to confess my sins & make amends 🙂
2.25 miles in 22:23 , 9.55 mins/mile, is not a bad pace for me, and I even look as if I’m enjoying it more than last time 🙂
I woke up too early this morning, with a head full of work.
Early enough to do my yoga set, then sit in the teahouse with a coffee, reading an old copy of New Scientist, and then sit playing my guitar whilst drinking a second cup.
All of which was a huge diversion tactic to put off going for a run.
Cognitively kicking & screaming, I eventually ventured out of the door.
I wasn’t in the right frame of mind for it to be a particularly fulfilling run, so instead it was just hard graft (which you can see from the pic below).
Mind you, I did at least notice that it was a lovely warm day… and that a whole series of people returned my passing greeting 🙂
1.97 miles in 20 minutes (I’m still not sure how the same route can vary in distance by so much from one week to the next!) and still back before 8am.
Reminder of some reasons not to run:
Don’t have time, don’t feel like it.
And of some reasons to run:
Sleep better,, lower resting heart rate, more positive, more alert, think both more clearly and more creatively, cognitive input from the local neighbourhood, more to write about, better able to run next time.
Today’s run was slow and hard work, but in a comfortable way… that is, I wasn’t gasping for air at any point!
2.01 miles in 20.48 🙂
My work is often intense, with a seemingly constant flow of overlapping messy problems to break down. Most people will be aware that I love messy problems, but in the same way that hoisting too many juggling balls airborne makes it likely that they will all fall to the floor, there is a threshold where even a series of enjoyable cognitive pressures turn into uncomfortable stress.
Right now I feel as if I have four juggling balls in the air (which I can only manage for a short time, and then only as two pairs) and whilst I relish the challenge, I seem to be working in that place where just one more pressure will bring everything to the floor.
Outside of work hours I’m currently pretty brain-dead and whilst I know that running helps my mind to work more effectively, the motivation is often lacking.
My work colleague Chris gave my mind a gentle jog yesterday when he went out for a run at lunchtime, before making good use of the showers that hide somewhere in our labyrinthine building. It seems that I’m not the only one struggling to keep the running neurons in play by trying to weave in the occasional short run.
At a mile in 9.34 on the running machine this morning, my run was shorter and way less interesting than his, but I feel glad that I stepped up.
Now to cool down & shower before I get back to the extreme cognitive exercise that is my work day!
