Last night at 6:50 I finally won a small battle with my person. I got up from the couch, put on a pair of shorts and laced up my new running shoes. My "new" running shoes are really no longer new, Amy bought them for me for my birthday this year. I just had yet to actually run in them, apparently I'd been too busy these last 5 months. My frustration with myself on this matter has extended beyond the casual I wish I could do better feeling, into desperate need to take some action towards making myself feel like a healthy person. Like I used to.
I'm older, and my years of rock star partying, sloth and gluttony have made running a monumental task. This is fact, and it bothers me immensely. These past five months, since the gift of the shoes, I have thought more and more about it. In fact, the gift of the shoes themselves came as an extremely thoughtful gift, from a person who was able to surprise me by giving me nudge in an area where I had been seeking one. Still it took five more months of thinking about it, of yearning for it. Five long months of remembering what it used to feel like to lace up shoes and run for more than 10 miles without dying.
I stretched first. I'm 28, and it's been too long. I headed south down orange grove at a walk first, not wanting to hurt my body by running on sidewalk. I headed for the Pan Pacific Park, behind the mega structure shopping center on third and Fairfax. There they have grass, and when you've been as lazy as I've been grass is important.
At first I started too fast, more than riding a bike distance running is remembered in the muscles. It was all too easy to begin at a ridiculous pace for a person in my condition. I had to remember that I'm not like I once was. I must start painfully slow or face unnecessary pain and burn myself out.
Soon I settled into my pace. I concentrated on my breathing and keeping a good efficient stride. My mind wandered. I looked around at the green grass. It was better than I imagined it would be. I felt like my life being on long string had been bent back on itself, giving me the ability to move in parallel with my self at younger age. How excellent it felt to sweat, and breath heavy.