Running with Moe May 28

It seems to me that as “at home” quarantine continues, with each passing day, it becomes easier to miss workouts.  When you pass the time of day doing household chores, watching television, or sleeping in late so that the temperature is too hot to run, the run for the day loses its status as the primary activity for the day.  

I was looking at a collection of old cartoons about running and exercise that I keep for ideas when I came across a “Cathy” comic strip.  It showed Cathy getting out of bed in the early morning to work out.  All of a sudden her mind screamed out, “No!!  It’s too dark out!  It’s too hot out! You need your sleep.  Work out later! Work out at lunch! Work out tonight!  Any time but now! Now is bad! Now is horrible! Not now! Not now!”  The next caption had her back in bed snuggling under her covers.

Having been an early morning runner for several years I could relate to her situation.  It was dark outside.  It was often too cold or hot.  And toward the end of the week I was often tired and would much rather have rolled over and grabbed a few more minutes of sleep.  The key to resisting this urge to miss a workout is to keep your running and exercise program as a top priority.  The daily run has to be more important than a favorite television program or a chance to sit down after work and relax.  If you run after work do not sit down and relax or you will never make it out the door.  Do not hit the alarm clock and catch a few more minutes (up to one hour in some cases) before a run because then it will be a choice between getting to work on time or not running.

The problem with letting things get in the way of a run is that it becomes easier for you to use the excuse and before long, you are not running anymore. When running becomes a part of the day and if you miss it you feel anxious and restless.  I have known a few runners that have an injury and are forced to recover by resting.  Some of them go through withdrawal symptoms similar to getting rid of an addiction of some kind.  For the spouse of these individuals it becomes a stress and the urge to douse them with a bucket of cold water becomes stronger.

Running makes you feel good and is a great way to start, or end, your day.  Running, or any exercise, is a great thing to include in a lifestyle.  Cathy’s excuses have been said by many runners over the years and will probably be said for years to come.  The key is to give running a chance to show how much you will enjoy it if you stay with it long enough.  It takes time for your body to adjust to an active lifestyle and realize you feel much better than when you lived a sedentary lifestyle.

I have a philosophy about being an active and fit person.  The difference between a fit and unfit person is how well you feel.  A fit person feels great almost all the time.  Even when he, or she, is feeling a bit down, they are still feeling better than an unfit person when they feel good.  Most unfit people have never experienced what it feels like to be in good physical condition, or how the body feels after a hard workout.   I used to tell people, “It just feels good to feel good!”

A lot of people have heard about a “runner’s high” during a run.  This phenomenon happens on a few runs to regular and fit runners.  It does not occur every run.  I never felt a “high” on any runs shorter than three miles. It seems that it took a run of over six miles to get the body in a rhythm so that breathing is easy, the legs are not tired, the pace is above average, and you seem to be floating on top of the ground.  I find it difficult to believe when a runner goes on a very short run at a slow pace that they experienced a “runner’s high.”

When you give running a chance to let your body know what it feels like to feel good it does not want to go back to feeling good on a very limited basis.  Your body will tell you when it needs to get some exercise and you look forward to that feeling of wellbeing after a run.  If you are going to have an addiction, running and working out, is a good one to have.  It ranks right up there with peach cobbler, tacos, and BBQ as addictions.