It’s been three days since I ran last. My schedule got a little messed up over the Holiday weeks, and it put me on a strange schedule. On Saturday, which would have been my third run of last week, I went shooting with friends and was out in the wilderness and on my feet for the entire day, so I figured I got some exercise.
Me shooting my Springfield M1A that was given to me by my wife and friends the previous week.
The main reason we went out to shoot was because Sherry and my friends chipped in and got me a rifle I’ve wanted since I was a kid: the Springfield M1A. That’s the rifle I’m shooting in the photo above. I also didn’t have it held to my shoulder properly and bruised it. That was a primary factor in me not running on Sunday because I didn’t want to aggravate my shoulder doing push ups. What does push ups have to do with running, you’re wondering. Well, that’s my work out, and if I can’t do one, I rest the other.
Needless to say, I’ll be running today weather permitting. I have a short errand to run after work, but that shouldn’t get in the way of my run. Only heavy rain will do that, and I don’t see us having a lot of rain for a long duration tonight. A shower? Maybe, but they are over soon enough.
As I’m in the process of enlisting into the National Guard, I have to take documents in to my recruiter today after work so that I can swear in next week. That means I won’t have time to run tonight after work as I had planned. This makes me unhappy because I am into a pretty good routine right now, and I enjoy my after-work runs.
I will wake up early tomorrow morning and get the run in then, instead. My wife and I have plans for the entire day, but they don’t start until around 11 am, so that give me plenty of time to run. That will make Thursday and Friday this week my “Weekend,” and I will have a four-run week coming up. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes. If it goes well, I may just go to a day-on/day-off run schedule. So, there’s some positive to it, I guess.
I made an admission a few posts back: I actually enjoy running. I also dismissed the idea that I would never be able to like exercise in the future. I clearly have changed my opinion on it. However, there’s one thing I’m very certain about: I will never enjoy extreme exercise.
I get it; some people not only love it, but thrive on it. They truly enjoy pushing themselves to new levels of fitness, strength, and speed. Heck, I understand wanting to get better and stronger; that’s what I’m doing with my running ad push ups. However, I don’t see myself doing two or three different workouts in a row in a single day. I don’t see myself wanting to really push so hard that I’m left a puddle of sweat afterward. That’s not enjoyable to me.
I enjoy the gains I’m realizing after working out. I enjoy the fitness it’s bringing me, and the ability to take a long hike through a new city’s trail system without effort. It was truly pleasurable and a reward of all the work I’ve been doing on my runs. But that’s about it. I run to be fit, not to prove anything to myself or to anyone else.
I am not, nor would I ever begrudge anyone who does engage in extreme exercise. It’s neat to watch, and I enjoy reading the new levels of fitness people reach. I’m forever motivated by these very same people whenever I think about skipping a run for no good reason. However, I don’t want to run so hard that my muscles want to explode, or do so many push ups that I can’t brush my teeth afterward.
I feel fortunate that I’ve found a workout routine that is working for me. It allows me to make gains, get fitter, and not feel hurt or broken afterward. That’s the key for me: a manageable amount of pain for gain. I am not lazy, but I’m not a fan of pain. I accept some soreness, but pain is out of the question. It’s not a badge of honor for me; it’s a matter of quality of life.
The bottom line is that everyone needs to find what works for them. Also, realize what is working for you may not be what’s best for someone else, and vice-versa. What I do and write about is all about my journey and helping others find theirs. If mine works; great! If not, I encourage you to find what does work and go with it!
This morning, I planned on waking up at 5:15 a.m. to run, but due to a power glitch last night around 6 pm (that only lasted about a second!), the speakers connected to my Amazon Echo Dot that we use as our alarm clock in our bedroom powered down. I woke up at 5:45 a.m. to find that the alarm didn’t go off as planned and I didn’t have time for my morning run today.
So… that means I get to run in the heat after work.
This is going to be an interesting experiment. It should be a bit cooler than the day’s high temperature since I’ll be running at around 6 pm, but also at a time of peak traffic, so I’ll have to run on sidewalks and try to stay away from the roads as much as possible. Fortunately, I have some new running clothes that are quite amazing at wicking and keeping me cool, so I’ll be putting them to the test today. I’m also looking forward to seeing how much energy I have, and how hard I can push myself to keep a good pace through the planned 30 minutes. Maybe running at the end of the day will be easier for me? Who knows. Hopefully I survive this one.