The Moving Chicane

     I really, badly, want to run a 5K this year. I've never wanted to do much running before in my life. In fact, despite working out in the gym fairly regularly for quite a few years I avoided cardio like most cats avoid showers: No, it wouldn't kill me, but I wanted nothing to do with it and would scratch anyone who tried to force me.
     But something happened that made me want to run that 5K. Back in January, 2014, I was hit by a car. I was walking a good friend's dog, getting some exercise and I was hit by a car crossing a street in our neighborhood. I was flipped onto the hood of the car then sent flying off the hood to the pavement when the car came to a screeching halt. I was lucky. I managed to get my hands on the hood and my feet off the ground before I was hit, so rather than getting run over I suffered heavy bruising on my legs, shoulder, face and a few other choice places plus some road rash, but nothing was broken. The dog was even luckier. It was ahead of me on the leash and suffered no damage at all. I was laid up for several days recovering, though. So in my own way I figured "Screw 'em. They hit me with a car, I'm running a 5K."
     I had no idea how much difficult that would end up being.
     As it turns out, my body decided to fight this decision with every fiber of its being.
     At first, I was optimistic. A 5K comes out to about 3.2 miles. Not too far, I thought to myself. With some work, I can do that. I could walk it anytime, but I wanted to run the entire thing. That was my criteria. I knew that would take some training since I'd rarely run much more than a mile at a time in the past. I talked to a few friends who ran (I am proud of my association with Cardio-Americans)and they were very encouraging. I decided to start with an app, the "Couch to 5K" app that assists in ramping up cardio training. You start the app when you start running, and it advises you on when to jog and when to walk in invervals. At first it's running for a minute, then walking for 90 seconds in sets of 8. It gradually ups the running time and lowers the walking time down day by day until you're running a 5K. You can play your music or podcasts to distract yourself and the app talks over your music to tell you when it's time to change pace. I liked it and found myself out on a gravel trail nearby the house on a regular basis.
     It quickly became a humbling experience. First, I knew I was out of cardio shape. There was no question about that. But I had no idea just how much I'd be wheezing and aching at the end of each workout. I was exhausted, and I was slow. People far older than I were breezing by me as I trudged along. Despite this I found most runners to be an encouraging lot, nodding at me as they happily jogged by and I desperately hung on to consciousness. But I was doing it.
     At least I was for a while. Then the pain started.
     The stitches in my side were to be expected. That was my wind just not being where it needed to be. What got me was the intense pain that built up in my shins. That turned out to be shin splints, which made walking painful and running an exercise in agony. I spoke to the Cardio-Americans again for advice and found my shoes were likely to blame. With that in mind I visited a running store, which put me on a treadmill and videotaped my gate. The salesperson managed to stop laughing at me long enough to recommend a few pairs that would correct my ankles from bending inward a bit when I ran.
     With a few weeks off for the pain to subside and my new shoes, I was ready to set off again. I dialed back the "Couch to 5K" app a few workouts to compensate for the inactivity and set off again. This time I noticed a real difference. I still wasn't setting any new speed records, but I was making it further around the circuit than I had, so I decided to count that as a victory.
     Until the next day, when another screaming pain hit my right leg. This one was more concentrated and only on one side. The Cardio-Americans told me it was most likely a stress fracture. Again, my body's rebellion against running put me on ice. There's not much to be done for one of those but rest it and wait.
     And wait I shall. And when the pain subsides I'll be back on the track, trying to get around that gravel circuit again, dodging dogs and trying to stay out of the way of the myriad number of people who cruise around there for whom I am a moving chicane. Because screw the person that hit me with her car, more importantly screw my own hangups about endurance and my lack of belief in myself.
     My Cardio-American friends won't let me think about it any other way.



SIDE NOTE: It has been about two years since I posted in this blog, so thanks go out to anyone reading this. I loved writing it but life gets in the way sometimes. I will try to remember what I love about writing and do my best to keep it updated regularly. Again, thanks for lending this blog an eye.