Full Body Jog-Walking - September 30, 2017
Running or, in my case – jog-walking, is something that was hard for me to start. I was 58 before I could achieve my desired 5-k goal – and it was after numerous failed attempts. And now at 60 it can be hard for me to continue. Something is always trying to put me off my 45-50-minute daily trip. This spring and summer it was a number of things.
First of all, I left my mp3 player in our black van in the hot sun – the earphones melted and the actual mp3 unit took a day to recover. I cannot jog-walk without something to listen to other than my gasping and negative thoughts. So off I went to my nearest electronics outlet for replacement earphones – the ones that loop around one’s ears so that they aren’t always falling out or falling off. My usual $15.00 set were no longer in stock. I expect I have bought them out - I lose things. OK, put me down for the $30.00 pair. Who says that exercising in the great outdoors is free?
(And, unusually wise for me, I ordered a back-up MP3 player. The model that I like – the Sony NWZ-B183FB Flash MP3 Player with Built-in FM Tuner – is getting very long in the tooth (old) and harder and harder to find.)
Then I got completely sick to death of all my music tracks even though I have over 100 songs to pick from. Thankfully I found NPR Ted Hour podcasts. Woo hoo – very interesting conversations and a little music to distract myself from the pad-pad-pad, puff-puff-puff of struggling along.
Sadly, I burned through those NPR Ted Hour podcasts within two months, and they only release a new one every few weeks. Sigh. Thankfully, NPR has an almost daily podcast called “Fresh Air” and that should keep me going – along with a few CBC shows – until next summer’s repeats.
Then the summer humidity hit. Gah! My jog-walk became mostly a crawl – not that I run that fast anyway – but I looked and felt pitiful. And my start time is 7 am – so it wasn’t that I was out in the noon day sun.
With Fall, the weather is getting cooler. But it’s also when the Kids Breakfast Program starts up again. This means that to get to Lincoln Centennial for 7:30 am, I have to start my run at 6:00 am (instead of 7.) This requires pulling myself out of bed no later than 5:30. I grant you, I normally only help one morning per week, but I fear that if I miss even one morning, I’ll never run again. (Ridiculous I know, but so is doing this daily 5-k shuffle.)
This past Thursday morning was one of those mornings, and I have to tell you I find nothing endearing about being out and about when it’s pitch black and I only have the odd skunk for company. It can also be hard to see, and I stumbled over some uneven sidewalk and fell onto all fours. I was grateful I didn’t crack my head. I have done that on numerous other occasions.
I rolled over onto my back – grateful in hindsight for stoop and scoop laws – and then sat up to check out the damage. My arms still worked, my legs still worked. Nothing for it but to continue and finish my morning ritual before the pain set in.
I let Laur know what happened when I got home. He asked, “Did anyone come to help you?” I responded, “At 6 am it’s pitch black and there is no one around in any event.” Then I thought to myself, “What would I have done if I had broken my leg?” We don’t have a second cell phone – and there’d be no point calling Laurence even if we did because he’d never hear it. (Oh, to be able to sleep like my husband.)
But if I had a cell phone I could at least call a cab to take me home or to the hospital. Mind you I would then need to carry a Mastercard and my hospital card – that’s three things I could lose very easily. If I can drop and lose a passport that I am hanging onto with all my might within five minutes on an airplane, what might I do with a cell phone and two cards over 45 to 50 minutes on 5 k of sidewalk? Besides, the damage would already be done.
Might there be a way to prevent or at least reduce damage? The obvious is to quit doing my morning jog-walk, but if you know how jittery I am, you’ll know how important it is for me to burn off some adrenalin first thing in the morning.
The other would be to invest in protective equipment. I checked this out with Professor Google and while I can find no safety gear for running – there are knee and wrist protectors for inline skaters. I’m guessing most runners don’t fall very much. Or they don’t fall with the same degree of “splat” on pavement that I do.
I expect it’s only a matter of a few more falls before you’ll see me jog-walking in New Ultimate Full Body Suit Protection Ultimate Anti-Riot Gear System that I can buy on ebay for $495 Canadian. Though the only riot I’ll experience are the gales of laughter as I stumble by.
I hope it’s eventually available in non-threatening colours. Having the police pull me over on a regular basis could be the new thing that puts me off my daily act of contrition.
First of all, I left my mp3 player in our black van in the hot sun – the earphones melted and the actual mp3 unit took a day to recover. I cannot jog-walk without something to listen to other than my gasping and negative thoughts. So off I went to my nearest electronics outlet for replacement earphones – the ones that loop around one’s ears so that they aren’t always falling out or falling off. My usual $15.00 set were no longer in stock. I expect I have bought them out - I lose things. OK, put me down for the $30.00 pair. Who says that exercising in the great outdoors is free?
(And, unusually wise for me, I ordered a back-up MP3 player. The model that I like – the Sony NWZ-B183FB Flash MP3 Player with Built-in FM Tuner – is getting very long in the tooth (old) and harder and harder to find.)
Then I got completely sick to death of all my music tracks even though I have over 100 songs to pick from. Thankfully I found NPR Ted Hour podcasts. Woo hoo – very interesting conversations and a little music to distract myself from the pad-pad-pad, puff-puff-puff of struggling along.
Sadly, I burned through those NPR Ted Hour podcasts within two months, and they only release a new one every few weeks. Sigh. Thankfully, NPR has an almost daily podcast called “Fresh Air” and that should keep me going – along with a few CBC shows – until next summer’s repeats.
Then the summer humidity hit. Gah! My jog-walk became mostly a crawl – not that I run that fast anyway – but I looked and felt pitiful. And my start time is 7 am – so it wasn’t that I was out in the noon day sun.
With Fall, the weather is getting cooler. But it’s also when the Kids Breakfast Program starts up again. This means that to get to Lincoln Centennial for 7:30 am, I have to start my run at 6:00 am (instead of 7.) This requires pulling myself out of bed no later than 5:30. I grant you, I normally only help one morning per week, but I fear that if I miss even one morning, I’ll never run again. (Ridiculous I know, but so is doing this daily 5-k shuffle.)
This past Thursday morning was one of those mornings, and I have to tell you I find nothing endearing about being out and about when it’s pitch black and I only have the odd skunk for company. It can also be hard to see, and I stumbled over some uneven sidewalk and fell onto all fours. I was grateful I didn’t crack my head. I have done that on numerous other occasions.
I rolled over onto my back – grateful in hindsight for stoop and scoop laws – and then sat up to check out the damage. My arms still worked, my legs still worked. Nothing for it but to continue and finish my morning ritual before the pain set in.
I let Laur know what happened when I got home. He asked, “Did anyone come to help you?” I responded, “At 6 am it’s pitch black and there is no one around in any event.” Then I thought to myself, “What would I have done if I had broken my leg?” We don’t have a second cell phone – and there’d be no point calling Laurence even if we did because he’d never hear it. (Oh, to be able to sleep like my husband.)
But if I had a cell phone I could at least call a cab to take me home or to the hospital. Mind you I would then need to carry a Mastercard and my hospital card – that’s three things I could lose very easily. If I can drop and lose a passport that I am hanging onto with all my might within five minutes on an airplane, what might I do with a cell phone and two cards over 45 to 50 minutes on 5 k of sidewalk? Besides, the damage would already be done.
Might there be a way to prevent or at least reduce damage? The obvious is to quit doing my morning jog-walk, but if you know how jittery I am, you’ll know how important it is for me to burn off some adrenalin first thing in the morning.
The other would be to invest in protective equipment. I checked this out with Professor Google and while I can find no safety gear for running – there are knee and wrist protectors for inline skaters. I’m guessing most runners don’t fall very much. Or they don’t fall with the same degree of “splat” on pavement that I do.
I expect it’s only a matter of a few more falls before you’ll see me jog-walking in New Ultimate Full Body Suit Protection Ultimate Anti-Riot Gear System that I can buy on ebay for $495 Canadian. Though the only riot I’ll experience are the gales of laughter as I stumble by.
I hope it’s eventually available in non-threatening colours. Having the police pull me over on a regular basis could be the new thing that puts me off my daily act of contrition.