Running, Day 3 (Week 2, Day 1)

As part of this reboot, I skipped 1 day of Week 1 so now my count is a bit off. Alas, such is the way of things.

I intended to run Monday morning after only 1 day off between weeks 1 and 2 but I got a slow start to my day and by the time it was moving in earnest, I was busy with work and preparations for a small trip to visit family in New York and celebrate my wife’s birthday.

I intended to run Tuesday morning before we drove west but it was raining and we had a lot of last minute stuff to finish before we left (and we left really late anyway).

So, Wednesday morning, I ran along Route 28 in Mount Tremper in the heart of the Catstkills. It didn’t seem that hot and humid when I started and maybe I went at just the wrong time (around 10AM) when it was rapidly heating up, but by the time I was ending the walk, it felt oppressively hot and humid. Running along a busy highway is also somewhat unnerving but the margins on the side of the road were large and there was mostly mowed grass/wildflowers on the sides that gave me softer terrain when I needed it or wanted to get further away from traffic.

The second week expands the jogging sessions to 90 seconds and, just like the last time I did this a few weeks ago, this first day was painful. I found myself barking, “Come on!” to myself to keep going. I set milestones (I’ll go to that stretch of fence”, “that bridge”, “one more grasshopper”) That last was referring to the many grasshoppers (or grasshopper like bugs) on the margins of the road that all jumped/flew as I approached them.

When I was halfway through, I had two thoughts. The first was that I felt especially stiff and things were hurting that had not hurt before. The second, that followed the first one quickly, was that I forgot to stretch out before my run. So, I paused my run and did a few quick stretches and I made sure to do extra stretching when I was finished. 

On the plus side, the rest of the day, featuring lots of walking, was not painful at all. My legs felt great and, more importantly, feel great today.