Running, again!

In Norway I got addicted to exercise. In England I’m left gagging. Caving can be very intensive, but it can also be a walk in the park. And for a while I was kept satisfied by biking to Dave, and then Dave driving me to a cave, since Dave lives at an excellent distance (far enough to give some exercise but so close you don’t mind biking that late in the evening after a heavy caving trip) but then a sudden surge of inner city cavers turned me into a highly wanted driver. I don’t get off my lazy arse! And the trial run with Jon, three months ago, strangely left me wanting more (who would have thought!) but Jon stopped running, and I was back to square one with finding an efficient way of getting my shot of muscle movement.

After Norway the cold turkey was strong. Six days of sitting in a car does that to you. So I went on a search for another running mate (I can’t do it alone!). We have truckloads of new employees, and they all seem to run, which is hopeful, but it went nowhere. Jon had the perfect pace, but what’s the chance of finding someone else who does? I was afraid one of the new runners would run way too fast and too far, and another one vanished from the scene. But I needed not despair! The statistics Ferret (quite nerdily) places on Facebook concerning his runs made me suspect he would be a good match. And he thought teaming up was a good idea. So on a very rainy Wednesday evening we embarked on what for me was the second run in 17 years. And that was still with a dodgy throat, but the previous time was with tonsils with white lumpy bits, and that didn’t harm me, so I figured it’d be fine.

About 10 meters was enough to notice he wasn’t as fast as Jon. And about 30 meters was enough to notice this time my hamstrings didn’t protest as much. And the latter is only good, while the former simply turned the exercise/social balance a bit to the right. And that can be a negative feedback: the slower the run is, the longer you can keep running, and the more social it is, the more you are inclined to, so in the end you get as much movement as you would on a shorter faster run. And the circumstances were perfect: the abandoned waterfront, the cooling rain, the dramatic, foggy sea! We ran for 45 minutes, after which my hamstrings still felt pristine. Time for some food, a cup of tea, and some general catching up.

Tomorrow I’ll really know how my hamstrings have done! I don’t know if they really cope now, or that it was the lower pace or the cooler weather that did it. And I’ll know for sure what my throat thinks of this. But I think I’ll run again, and this time not wait 3 months!



ps and indeed, I did not wait three months! Two days later we were on the move again, this time in the sunshine. The hamstrings, that were a little stiff the day after that first run, but nothing major, did not mind. I'm turning into a runner!