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… Dale!

Josiah and I ran a 5k this morning. He basically took the whole winter off from running. I, on the other hand, got back into my running groove in early January this year. It all paid off this morning. My finish time was 21:46, and Josiah’s time was  21:50.

Here’s Mugs with the call at the finish:

Mugs says the video is like a Big Foot sighting. The camera work is very shaky, things are kind of blurry, and you’re not sure what you’re seeing is real.

If you don’t believe me or the video, you can just ask the gecko.

Once again, I am able to run a mile without stopping to walk or to limp. Last Thursday, the spring breeze must have sped up my progress, because I ran the mile in 12 minutes.

Regretfully, my husband and son are not very impressed with my mile time. In fact, Dale just composed Josiah’s Spring Running Schedule to help him train for a 5k race in April, and on the schedule he lists the category “Easy = Mom’s Pace (Not Quite)”

For Josiah, I’m quite sure my pace would be too slow even for his “cool down pace.”

Unfortunately for Dale, he missed a fleeting opportunity yesterday. Josiah had taken the entire winter off from running. This time off can be viewed as either an extended recovery period from cross country or the life of a lazy 15 year old.

It all depends on who you ask.

Dale’s running over the last several months has increased to 8 – 12 mile lengths. This is a happy change for him. As with many others, he returned from deployment 18 months ago with stomach and breathing problems. Thankfully, the breathing problems cleared up within the first year back. Now, with dietary changes and medicine for his stomach troubles, he is getting back to form.

Yesterday, I think he could have beaten his son for the first time in years. Josiah’s first run after lazing about for the winter was not a pleasant one. Lucky for Josiah, he started his run before his Dad got home. When Dale was driving towards the house, he saw an unruly mop of hair that he recognized crossing the intersection.

So, Dale did not get a pick me up from outrunning Josiah. He must get all his encouragement from Zeke.  Zeke loves to cheer him on while he is training. Watching Dale jump rope, Zeke exclaimed,”Wow! You’re a natural.” Then, a little while later, he asked, “How are you so good?”

Here’s hoping it doesn’t all go to his head.

“Humble = Dale (Not Quite)”

My “For the Health” routine had a bit of a set back. I started to develop pain in my shin. Initially, I figured I’d just add this pain to all the other aches and pains I feel when I run, but shin pain is apparently one of the pains you cannot ignore.

The solution to shin pain is STOP RUNNING. My body and my lazy self were glad of the news, but my will was irritated. I had finally forced myself to run and my body was defying me.

I did not run or walk for a week, then I walked a mile for only three days the next week. I experienced no shin pain after my two week hiatus, so I ran on Saturday.

During that run, I felt almost as bad as when I started this effort a month and a half ago. I was back to the run-walk-run-walk pattern. I rested on Sunday and ran again yesterday, but I fear it may be awhile before I make it back up to running a mile without walking.

I have been lifting hand weights and doing other exercises to vary my “For the Health” routine. Hopefully, when Spring fully arrives, I can add cycling in as well.

Newton’s Law of Motion says: “Every body persists in its state of being at rest or moving uniformly straight forward, except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by force impressed.”

My body wants to persist in its state of being at rest and is resentful of being compelled to change its state by the force of my will. Who knows what my body will come up with next in order to stop me from moving uniformly straight forward.

My “for the health” routine has continued through our endless snow days. I have alternated running with shoveling as my cross training exercise. I am finally able to run a mile without stopping. (I must stop to walk over icy patches missed by the plow. It’s for my safety, really, and not just because I am in such sorry shape.)

My great achievement today was that I completed the mile in 13 minutes 26 seconds. Josiah can now rightfully claim he is more than two times faster than his mother.

The running guy gave me his usual cheery greeting this morning, but the lady walking her dog let me know my odds weren’t too good. “You’re brave,” she said. The way she looked at me and her tone of voice led me to one of two conclusions: either she was commenting on my running on the bad roads, or she was commenting on me running at all.

Saturday morning was beautiful. The sun was shining, the frost was sparkling on the ground and the birds were singing as if spring was here. We are in the midst of the January thaw, and though I want to sing of spring with the birds, two winters in Virginia have taught me that February is a disagreeable month, and rightly termed winter.

Dale has informed me that the route I have been running is actually .9 mile, not .5 mile. I can now feel just slightly less pathetic. Although I did enjoy being outside on Saturday morning, the running part of it was still not appealing.

However, I only had to stop to walk twice, instead of the four times I needed at the start of this “for the health” business. Also, an amazing thing happened as I began to trot the last section. It didn’t hurt. I concluded it must be either Karin’s illusive endorphins or I had lost all feeling in my legs.

Today, Blaze and I trotted out to enjoy the balmy 60 degree weather sent to us via California. I was determined to try to see if I could trot to the top of the sledding hill without stopping. The top of the sledding hill is the approximate half way point on the route. Here I was presented with the following question, “If the dog is walking, is my pace still considered running?”

If I humor myself and consider my pace up the sledding hill running, I did not stop to walk until I got to the end of the path. My mind wanted to push on and try to make it farther before walking, but my body was bent over like a little old lady whose arms are more determined than her legs.