Sunday, October 06, 2013

Potato.

I should have had pictures of dinghy racing for you today. Instead, here is a potato. 

Work's been running me down. I didn't decide to go dinghy racing until too late to get a ride to the club and then when I got up this morning it would've been bit of scramble to get home from TQ's place, get my stuff together and get my lemu on the bus, and with work having been one big scramble after another since the beginning of September, I'm just all scrambled out.

And besides, there was this: 


This is how Bella asks to go out - TQ has taught her to sit to have her leash put on so so she does her very very best sit with the big brown eyes laid on thick. The day I originally posted this, I had someplace to get to, but this time I caved in. Is that what "cave canem" means?

After I walked her I was still toying with going - I could've gone and rigged and gotten out to the course in time to catch some of the races, but I generally really like to have one day on the weekend when I don't put myself onto public transportation so I was just feeling reluctant, and then I started thinking about how messy my place is, and then I walked by the crepe place on Newkirk Avenue and realized I was very hungry and that was the end of that.

I have been feeling like a horrible potato lately though so I did get myself to do something - I went for a RUN! Usually I like walking better but I just felt like I needed to get the blood moving a little more than that. I actually was thinking of going to the Brooklyn College pool and getting a half-year membership on the spot 'cause a swim would've been terrific, but this was around 2:30 and it turns out they close at 3:30 on Sundays. So instead I fell back on running, which I haven't done in ages.

I'm not a good runner and the who-knows-how-long hiatus hasn't helped (surprise surprise) but I did get myself to do two miles -- and then I managed to talk myself out of doing a third (which would definitely have been the point at which some joint would have gotten hurt - that's one of the things that makes me a bad runner, I get stupid about trying to force myself to do what I think I should be able to do and then I hurt myself), instead just walking another quarter mile or so to cool down. It wasn't bad, but as usual it felt I was just trudging. Tillerman was talking once about why he likes running so much and he talked about how kids love to run - I can see that, I remember liking to run and jump (there was one point in California when some of the neighbor kids and I were going for weekly riding lessons and we spent a lot of time playing horse show in our back yards), but "jogging" doesn't feel anything like that to me - and to the best of my recollection, I have never hit the "Zone" while running. I hit it kayaking and I hit it swimming, that's why I love doing both of those. Never ever running - and I have done a LOT of running, I was in track at Iolani (although I sucked).

I found myself wondering today - if a running-coach-type person ever looked at me, would they say I'm just not built for running, or would they say I just have bad technique that could be improved?

You would think that I might have gotten a sense of that in my time on the track team but somehow I have no recollection of ever actually being coached. I really wonder if that's the difference - in both swimming and kayaking, I have had the good fortune to cross paths with coaches who really worked with me to improve my technique, not necessarily with an aim to compete, just with the aim of enjoying both sports more thoroughly. I give those coaches credit for how much I enjoy (even crave) doing both of those sports today.

Random thoughts basically, but I may start trying to throw some after-work runs in - just little short ones like today, at least as long as the weather's good. See how it goes. 


3 comments:

Tillerman said...

Well done! 2 miles is plenty far enough for the first run if you are trying to get back into running after a long hiatus.

And it does feel slow and a bit boring at first. But the more you do it the easier it becomes, the faster you run, and the more fun it is. Don't rush it at first and hurt yourself. Just commit to running a few times a week and before you know what you will be entering races and blogging about negative splits and VO2 Max and other such nonsense!

my2fish said...

cute puppy!

bonnie said...

My2fish - yes she is, and she knows it. And works it.

She's a good critter, though.

Thanks, Tillerman! I was going to go again last night but then I read through my stop & decided to just do a brisk walk back from King's Highway (2 miles). My legs were still sore from Sunday!