Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Run Me Right Round Baby, Right Round Like a Record Player

11.17km – 1:02’33”

Very weird run today.  

Sometimes a run can make me feel so wonderful when I’m out there.  My legs just feel like they could carry me without my will to swing them forward.  The ground accepts each step softly and with forgiveness.  I truly enjoy those runs.

After some runs, I’m exhausted and my legs wobble unreliably under me.  I feel the muscle burn in my thighs and calves that invariably leads to the slow but sharp walk up stairs to my office.

Today, well, today was different.  The run started out slow, but I felt more tired than I usually do at the beginning of a run.  I just felt like I didn’t have any energy at all.  I had to consciously remember a trick I learned in the army – you can only push your legs so far, but if you imagine it as throwing your legs out in front of you, you’ll pick up your pace without burning those pushing muscles.  I have no idea if that’s good advice.  I made it all up, but it helps me.

Anyway, I pushed.  I threw.  I panted and sweated.  Every time I looked down at my watch, my pace was slower than I thought it should be.  The odd thing was, though, that I didn’t slow down.  Usually I’ll slow down at the end of the second and the third lap, but today I didn’t.  I just ran right through it.

When I got back to the gym, I found out that I ran basically the same run at about the same time, but my heart rate was 3bpm lower than last time.  So that’s a really good thing.  Lower heart rate generally means more healthy heart.  So yea!

Bonus locker room eavesdropping:

A:     Sure, I think I’ll do fine in Paris
B:     (European accent of some kind) Well, they all speak French, you know.
A:     Yeah, but… wait.  They don’t speak any English at all?

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