Flu Season

Flu season is upon us. IBM sponsors a flu-shot drive every year, offering flu shots to all employees for free. They have some company come on site and you flash your badge, sign on the line and they shoot you. I got mine about four hours ago. My arm aches. I have a headache too. They said it was a “weakened virus.” Weakened how? Did they take each virus and break both legs? Or soak them in acid like you might weaken an eggshell? Well, I tell you from first hand experience, a weak virus is still mean. Maybe it is like a wounded badger; more vicious than ever.

This is the fourth year in a row I have gotten a flu shot. Last year I caught the flu anyway. As miserable as it was, it did have a silver lining; I am ten pounds lighter this year than I was last. Come to think of it though, I am not sure I lost 10 pounds of fat…. I think I barfed up my spleen and maybe a few other organs.

I sit here at work, with my head in a cloud trying to force myself to work, but not doing so very successfully. Maybe I should have waited until 4 P.M. to get my shot.

First 5k in ten years

While our family was in Pacific City, OR, for three days last week, I decided not to take a vacation from my running. I figured that if I took Saturday off because I was at the beach, then I would probably take another day off for this or that reason and it would snowball and I would be back on the couch in no time. It has taken me seven weeks (six of running and one with two days off to rest the weary trotters) to get me this far and I didn’t want to toss it out the window. I have run my first 5k without getting shin splints in the process. I am so happy. There are days that my legs are tired, but I wear supportive footwear and they feel much better. The biggest difference is that this time (as opposed to the 1 day ramp-up period in cross country) I took it slow to start with and let my body adjust to the change in abuse. Yes, running is abusive, but our bodies can learn to cope with the strain if given enough time. Only running three days a week also helps (rather than five).

I figured what better place to run than on the beach? I ran down on the packed sand right next to the water line. There were several places I had to be light footed to keep out of the water. Week six of the Couch to 5k program has different workouts for each day, with the third workout being a solid 25-minute run. Back in the day, I would run 5k in less than 18 minutes, but now I am running more at the 22-23 minute pace. The fact that I can run it at all is really saying something. Last week, the last day was a 20-minute non-stop run. That was not quite 5k for me (though they estimate 20 minutes is two miles and 25 minutes is 2 1/4 miles). This week, I definitely went the distance. And man, does it feel good. The plan still has another 3 weeks left in it, but I think I am just going to switch over to my own plan now that I have hit 5k. I have several routes that I can run in my neighborhood that are about the right distance. The biggest difference between routes would probably be how many hills and where they are in the course.

I don’t know that I will ever get back into competitive running, since it seems to be against the reasons that I started running. Competitive running is pushing your body to its limits to run faster or longer. This often has the tendency to break your body in the process. I am running to be in better shape and take better care of my body, so I think that my competitive running will be like any other of the competitive activities I participate in: I lost?, oh well. But we all know that merely crossing the finish line makes us all winners.

Week three of nine

I am currently at week three of nine in the Podrunner Intervals Couch to 5k program. This week has me running for up to three minute intervals. Last week I was starting to get worried about shin splints until I started to wear shoes during the day. Normally, I am a bare-footed kind of guy; my feet love the open air. But especially on the day after a run, I really need to wear something that has good arch support or my legs and feet feel very fatigued. I suppose this means I should go see a podiatrist or something, but the only one I know is still finishing up school and is planning to take over his dad’s practice in Utah. So a fat lot of good that does me.

I am just happy to be out and running. There really is nothing else in the world that can replace that for me. Knowing that I am self propelled and seeing the world go past me is just super great. Backpacking is similar for me, but a much slower pace.

I guess we will just have to see how dedicated I am to this running thing. I would love to be able to run 5k again. Not so much for competition sake, but for the healthy feeling you have when you are physically active. Mix that with all the fresh local veggies I plan on eating this summer and I should be healthy as a horse or something. Just as long as I don’t eat too many cookies.

Couch to 5k

Running has got to be my favorite form of exercise. But I was not born to run. All through high school, I had nasty posterior shin splints all through cross country season and right on into track season. I think I understand now more the causes of shin splints and how to deal with them. They are a repetitive stress injury, where stopping the painful activity will make them go away. Also, there some things that can be done to help treat and prevent them. With all that in mind, I have decided to start running again. Slowly this time. Well, not actually _running_ slowly, but rather starting with a slower regimen. I read that one common cause of shin splints is to start up too fast in the spring. My schedule is one I heard of from a friend, called Couch to 5k. It is a nine week program that starts you running in intervals, interleaved with a brisk walk. The first week, you only have to be able to run for 60 second intervals. The second week it is 90 seconds, and so on. Each week you run more and more until you are running for a full half hour. I think this is certainly a reasonable pace. I remember starting cross country and track like we were coming out of a cannon or something. We didn’t waste any time there. And I think this may be part of the problem in that kind of training. Sure it gets you whipped into shape really fast, but your body suffers for it. Or at least mine did.

Len pointed me to the Couch to 5k website, which is a great resource of links to running information and stuff. It takes the interval information from a program hosted by Cool Running. They also have a wealth of other information for runners. One of the links I found was a bunch of ‘pod intervals’, mp3 podcasts of music that is timed to help you stay on track with your running/walking intervals. The one that I chose was Podrunner Intervals: First Day to 5k. It uses mostly word-free music with a good beat to help you keep rhythm.

Hopefully I will be able to get back into this running thing. Walking doesn’t cut it. I can’t imagine that a treadmill would either. I have a deep-set need to move across the ground and see the world moving by; to feel the wind on my legs, arms and face; to lose myself in the run. It is really more than just the exercise that I think motivates me to run.