Running Born Again
Riffing off John 3:6-7, which says, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit . . . You must be born again," I've come to appreciate just how different my running has evolved over my lifetime. Certainly there was a before and an after. Before is before college; these were the Bruce Springsteen Glory Days of competition--St. Mary's and CYO championship, Cranbrook and All-State wins, and one brief stint at Duke that ended before my first semester was over. The only two codas during this period was when I ran the Cooper Bridge Run under 36:00 and when I was assistant coach at East Mecklenburg and ran the 8K in something really, really fast. Since high school, which ended in 1986, running (and fitness in general) has been a sporadic, short-lived activity punctuated by injuries and problems, most notably the "hot feet" syndrome that turned out to be ridiculously small shoes--who knew adult feet grew? The injuries of the 1990s were caused by wanting to ramp up my running to 1980s level. My weight fluctuated but steadily rose as I went through graduate school.
Then came Zachary. Becoming a parent was the reason for this sustained, four-year period of fitness. When we adopted Zachary, the time crunch hit, and I no longer had the experience of planning a run but always have an option out if I didn't run the plan: "Oh, I'll run after class," but then I'd be hungry and I'd say, "We'll I'll run after dinner," but then something on t.v. would distract me. Lord, the amount of t.v. I watched before parenthood! Soon after we adopted him, the Spring of 2003, Erica and I just made a plan--that I'd run Tuesdays and Thursdays morning for four miles and on the weekends. I did this for months before I decided I wanted to add miles, which I did much more progressively. Fast forward: I got into biking and now I've settled on a routine which I have followed for two years: April-October, I bike;October to April, I run. The Bike Ride Across Georgia is in June, and that what I tune up starting in April. Cycling season ends with 6-Gap, a century ride in October in the mountains of northeast Georgia. Running has commenced soon after that and leads up to a marathon in the early Spring. Last year, it was the Country Music Marathon in Nashville. This year I'm planning on running the first Ing Atlanta Marathon. Throughout, I lift weights.
My goal is to integrate more running in the summer and more biking in the winter, but time is really the issue. This running in the winter and biking in the summer came about because of the adage "It's never too hot to bike and never too cold to run." Besides the temperature, the reality of light, especially with daylight savings, make biking in the winter fairly restricted to weekends.
People have warned me not to stop running because "at my age" I may loose some ability to absorb the shock of running after a hiatus. Others have told me that sooner or later, my knees will keep me from running, but as with some many things that older people say, such a pronouncement strikes me as an individual generalizing from particular difficulty or failure. I just see to many old people riding their bike across Georgia in summer heat and too many old runners kicking my ass in races that I just don't buy the inevitability of decrepitude.
Then came Zachary. Becoming a parent was the reason for this sustained, four-year period of fitness. When we adopted Zachary, the time crunch hit, and I no longer had the experience of planning a run but always have an option out if I didn't run the plan: "Oh, I'll run after class," but then I'd be hungry and I'd say, "We'll I'll run after dinner," but then something on t.v. would distract me. Lord, the amount of t.v. I watched before parenthood! Soon after we adopted him, the Spring of 2003, Erica and I just made a plan--that I'd run Tuesdays and Thursdays morning for four miles and on the weekends. I did this for months before I decided I wanted to add miles, which I did much more progressively. Fast forward: I got into biking and now I've settled on a routine which I have followed for two years: April-October, I bike;October to April, I run. The Bike Ride Across Georgia is in June, and that what I tune up starting in April. Cycling season ends with 6-Gap, a century ride in October in the mountains of northeast Georgia. Running has commenced soon after that and leads up to a marathon in the early Spring. Last year, it was the Country Music Marathon in Nashville. This year I'm planning on running the first Ing Atlanta Marathon. Throughout, I lift weights.
My goal is to integrate more running in the summer and more biking in the winter, but time is really the issue. This running in the winter and biking in the summer came about because of the adage "It's never too hot to bike and never too cold to run." Besides the temperature, the reality of light, especially with daylight savings, make biking in the winter fairly restricted to weekends.
People have warned me not to stop running because "at my age" I may loose some ability to absorb the shock of running after a hiatus. Others have told me that sooner or later, my knees will keep me from running, but as with some many things that older people say, such a pronouncement strikes me as an individual generalizing from particular difficulty or failure. I just see to many old people riding their bike across Georgia in summer heat and too many old runners kicking my ass in races that I just don't buy the inevitability of decrepitude.
posted by Paul Quick | 10:18 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home