I have increased, these days, the distance I have been running in a week. I had been for some months covering about four and a half to six miles in a week, spread out over three or four runs: my usual route is two and a half kilometers almost exactly. Within ten meters or so, anyway. I plotted a longer route a couple weeks ago, adding some miles through the streets of Hercules, the next town north: every second or third run now is 5K.
This morning was my third such run. To be honest, I stopped at around the 4.5K mark: my right calf was cramping up a bit, and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t reinjuring it. Ten years ago I started running around Lake Merritt in downtown Oakland, overextended myself, and spent several months nursing a strained right ankle. A bad ankle seriously cut into my hiking during my first extended desert trip, five weeks in the Mojave in Fall 1997: it was, to strain a metaphor as well, a pain in the ass. I run with the fear in the back of my mind that a second injury would bring my new lifestyle to a halt. If I twinge, I stop to check it out.
But the cramp ebbed with a little walking. I returned after three minutes or so to the spot where I’d stopped, took a deep breath, and ran the remainder of the five kilometers.
I always return to the place where I stopped. It feels like honesty with myself. When I first started running again this year I set myself a goal of about a mile, and I ran that distance, though it took I think two stops and returns to the stopping point. Within two weeks I was running the 2.5 K distance, sometimes adding another 500 yards up the 90-foot hill my house sits on. That was winter, and I weighed somewhere near 230 pounds. 190 is easier on the knees. And 190 I have been for weeks, and it was time to click past another ratchet in the exercise arms race: a somewhat lighter, somewhat better-conditioned body takes less energy to move, and hence fewer calories. So two weeks ago I plotted a five kay route through Hercules.
Hercules is an interesting change. Pinole has maintained a small-town feeling, wiith odd older houses and a distinct commcercial district. Hercules barely existed until the 1970s, and is a typical sprawly suburb in many ways. I stand out a bit running there, head covered in a strange tie-dyed bandana, sweat dripping off my unwaxed chest hair. But people smile and wave.
There is a hill along my route, a trifling one to a runner in any kind of shape, but I am proud of tackling it. From sea level to a hundred feet in four blocks is more gain than I could have handled until recently. I expected to stop partway up on my first attempt, but somehow didn’t. Perhaps it’s all the charging up steep Diablo switchbacks that did it. The hill seemed altogether unsteep by comparison. On that first run, it wasn’t until the 4K mark that I stopped, right at the lagoon behind the levee along the bayshore tracks. I walked, returned, and ran again. On my second attempt I ran the 5K without stopping.
Back home that day and dripping I was suddenly curious. I had been told the track around Lake Merritt was 5K, but suddenly wondered how true that was. I fired up Google Earth and measured. Not quite. Four point eight or so. Two hundred meters is not a distance you would notice so much if you’d just run three miles, but still: I had just run farther without stopping than I had in my life, and with a hill added besides. A measly victory to some perhaps, but it is mine and I will take it.
This morning I was still a bit worn from Saturday’s hike, and I’d run 2.5K on Sunday just to unknot the tendons. I set out with the promise that I could stop at 2.5K, which on this new route puts me fairly close to home, three or four blocks: the route doubles back through Hercules and back toward the bay and then away from the bay again. For some reason I did not stop, but ran on past the old paddock and into the curving streets, lawn sprinkler runoff striping the sidewalks.
Note:Many old comments were lost in a database crash in 2008. Some conversations may seem to make less sense than they would have. A few will make more sense now.
13 comments on "Run"I was wondering how the running has been going. Congratulations on exceeding your previous long run! I’ve run a lot over the last 12 years and 100 feet in four blocks doesn’t sound “trifling” to me.
Chris, do you stretch before running? I gather there is some recent info which argues against it, but my experience after 30 years of running is that it is crucial (for me, anyway). In order of importance - achilles tendon/lower calf; shins; upper calf; hamstring; quads; groin.
I’ve learnt the hard way that this prevents all sorts of strains, pulls, etc.
Thanks for the reminder, Rob. I really ought to do a little more stretching. It feels so good afterward that I tend to do it then.
I do that recommended so-called “brisk walk” for 600 yards before starting, which not coincidentally is the distance from my front porch to the creek.
I think the recent information is that it’s more important to stretch after running than before. If I’m wrong on that I hope someone will correct me.
Again, I can only speak from my own experience, but I’ve only found post-run stretching valuable if I’ve had an extended layoff. It cuts down on day-after stiffness, and, even worse, two-day-after stiffness.
The pre-run stretching I find absolutely necessary in cool weather. On a warmer day, it just makes the first part of the run more comfortable (funny, I never used to have that problem in my 20s). On hot, humid days I sometimes forego.
Definitely not a recommendation - I’ve noticed that runs the day after I’ve had a few drinks (not too many) often feel better than usual. Maybe it’s a numbing effect. I’m trying not to use this as an excuse to hit the bottle ;)
Rob, what are you drinking and where can I get some? When I drink (pretty infrequently these days!), especially red wine, starting off the run the next morning is really hard. :-P
Yeah, I have the same problem with wine. Vodka is a whole other story, although don’t hold your breath for Smirnoff endorsements from Paula Radcliffe.
Grimalkin, point taken about the pre-run stretching. I should have stressed that, if done, it should be gentle and static.
Your second paragraph resonates. I’ve had to drastically slow down, and reduce mileage (arthritic right knee). I gave it up for a couple of years, then discovered to my joy that I could take it up again. A new pair of runners, selected with expert help, made all the difference.
Rob and Grimalkin, good shoes make all the difference. The only time I was injured running (I stopped at mile 20 of a marathon) was due to a pair of shoes I should never have bought. The problem went away with a proper pair of shoes.
Exercise is about longevity? I’ve long guessed that I would go out long before my allotted time, while riding my bike in the summer, with my head turned by a passing woman.
For me, exercise is about feeling good about myself, and not getting fat. Running is a bit more than that. Loss of ego? I don’t know. It’s just necessary.
I run because the quantium fairies singing to me in my head make me.
Careful - if you hear human voices, you will drown in the electron sea.