Exploration

One of the many things that I enjoy about running is the opportunity to explore.  I feel like running and biking are two of the best ways to really explore your surroundings.  Biking allows you to cover more ground, have fewer aches and pains at the end of the day, and overall feel slightly more civilized.  However, the beauty of exploring on the run is that you don't need any special gear and you can do it anywhere.  You can run on-road or off-road and you can go places you may not make it with a bike.  If you are reasonably fit, you would be amazed at how much ground you can cover without even realizing it.  There is an incredible freedom in stepping out of the door without a direction or a goal (especially in a new place) and literally just going wherever the road takes you.  I have been fortunate in my life and career to have opportunities to travel all over the world.  Before I was a runner, I would often head out on walks from wherever I was staying and explore wherever city I was in and would often spend many hours exploring.  Once I started becoming a little more serious about running, I realized that the boundaries for my adventures could expand if I was on the run (and I could still be logging my long runs while I was traveling).  Sometimes I would find myself headed down some dusty dirt road to nowhere, while other times I was thrust into the middle of the city, dodging cars and people.  The cool thing is that either way I was there seeing things that I haven't seen before and experiencing a place in a way that I wouldn't be able to from the inside of a taxi cab or tour bus.  Sometimes, the people I was traveling with or my friends and family at home would express concern that I was off running around in unfamiliar places.  They would worry that it might be unsafe or people might hurt me, but what I have found though, is pretty much the opposite.  For the most part, people everywhere are pretty nice.  At worst they might be rude, but most are curious/friendly and the rest are indifferent.  Runners are pretty much non-threatening and as long as you act friendly/naïve 99% of the time you will be fine (in the other 1%, just run like hell).  And pretty much the same can be said for running the streets and trails around my house.  The great thing about this exploration is that it doesn't have to be in far off places.  Too many times you hear about people that always run the same route in the same direction every day.  It can be amazing what you discover in your own back yard it you just veer a little off of your normal path and open yourself up to an adventure.  Don't worry about how far it will be or where the next water fountain will be.  Rely in the fact that you are fit enough to cover whatever distance you want and that it is okay to bonk or get dehydrated - it is all part of the adventure!

Attitude and Altitude

Attitude:

After my recent success at embracing the crapiness of yoga, I thought I would try to apply this “life lesson” to other activities I dislike. One such activity is running in the heat. Sara sometimes teases me about the fact that I come back from pretty much every run during the summer totally defeated and declaring “that was the worst run ever!” Even though I say that every day, I pretty much mean that every day. I DESPISE running in the heat. Living in Houston, this means that I despise portions of almost every day for about a 4-6 month period every year. Certainly room for improvement there... Which brings me to Altitude.

Altitude:

One thing Houston is decidedly lacking is altitude. I live in an area of town known as “The Heights,” which means that while the rest of the city is about 20ft above sea level, I live in the rarefied air up at about 40ft above sea level. This is fine as long as you never want to run anywhere other than at sea level or never want to be even remotely competitive if you race anywhere else. Not that I have any delusions of being competitive, but sometimes I get frustrated by the idea that people that live in higher elevations are essentially getting some aerobic benefit “for free.” They get to be inherently fitter than me just by living somewhere. It is like a free performance enhancing drug….that is legal (and don’t we all want to be able to be faster without working at it)! That makes me jealous. But then I read this; an article from the New York Times that expounds on the benefit of training in the heat and compares that to altitude training. Stop the presses! If there is one thing Houston does have it is HEAT (just ask anyone that has ever lived here or visited between the months of May-September). It turns out that many of the physiological responses to altitude and heat are similar. You can get some of the benefits from training in the heat, and maybe even slightly better benefits. And then it occurred to me: Stop dwelling on how much you hate running in the heat and how bad your performance is….. and think of it like altitude training! There are runners in other places that spend every spare weekend headed for the high country trying to get in altitude training, but for 5 months of the year I get a free unlimited supply of heat (fake altitude) right outside my door. It is funny how that one mental association (heat = altitude) has changed my outlook on summer running. After 7 years of dreading summers and complaining about my crappy runs in the heat, I now find myself looking forward to my runs in the heat. It may not be quite the same or come with the majestic views of snow-capped peaks, but it isn’t all bad either. And, I think it really gets to the heart of what it is to be a runner in a big flat city (an urban flatlander)…. The idea that the “mountains” are here, we just have to use a little creativity to see them!

Yoga and Attitude

Background:

I almost always have good intentions when it comes to stretching, but laziness or impatience usually kick in.  The net result of this is that I wind up only stretching about 1-2 times a week for only about 15 minutes each time.  I have a love/hate relationship with stretching.  I recognize the benefits, but dislike the process, and I have never been flexible.  I always got screwed in the President’s Fitness Challenge in elementary school.  I would sail through all of the requirements until I got to the dreaded sit-and-reach.  This was always frustrating/embarrassing since all of the girls could reach a full hands-length below their feet while I struggled to get my hands past my knees.   Lately, I have been feeling that my lack of flexibility is contributing to various little injuries that keep cropping up and has been potentially hindering my performance.  With that in mind, and my general reluctance to stretch, I decided to sign up for one month of Yoga classes.  Since the 1 month pass is for “unlimited” classes, my goal would be to try to go at least 5 times per week.  I figured that going to a class will force me to stretch for a full hour and build strength in a bunch of mostly neglected muscles.  Prior to embarking on my 1 month yogathon, I had been to maybe 1 or 2 yoga classes and had decided that yoga pretty much sucks, a lot…. Which brings me to Attitude.

Attitude:

                  I can summarize my dislike of yoga by saying that all of the poses are uncomfortable/hurt, even the so-called “easy” or “resting” poses.  In addition to that (and probably more significantly), I don’t like being bad at things.  It is frustrating to watch people do things that I can’t do, and to do them seemingly without effort.  I always think to myself that “I must be working harder than they are” or “there is no way they are suffering as much as I am” when, in reality, they are likely thinking the same things or have at some point.  I am sure that everyone experiences this in whatever it is that they are pursuing from music, to sports, to knitting, but it still sucks.  So, as I have been taking my yoga classes, I have been finding myself dwelling on these negative thoughts.  Thinking about how stupid I must look, or how much harder I must be working than other people (if they only knew…), how I wish yoga studios weren’t so hot, how I wish we didn’t waste so much time on “focusing on our inner light” and other more spiritual matters and just got to stretching (I am not really in the mood to be relaxed and contemplative at 6:00 AM.  If I am going to get up early I want it to be doing something, otherwise I should have just slept in!).  What I have realized is that, despite the yoga instructor’s clear instructions to relax and focus on the present, I fester and dwell on the negative.  So, the other day I decided to stop this.  Stop focusing on the negative and just try to embrace the experience.   If I stop dwelling on the parts I don’t like I may have time to savor the parts I do like.  And it has worked, for the most part.  Yoga still isn’t my favorite thing to be doing at 6:00AM (or any other time of the day), but I am able to appreciate the experience and focus on the benefits (both physical and mental).  I have even found myself looking forward to it – not so much for the yoga, but for the chance to practice living in the moment….to practice getting stronger, physically, but, more importantly, mentally.