Joggin, Day Eight!

Today was hard but good and I feel the best I've felt about my health in a while.

I ran 2.74 miles, according to the map. I ran about three hours later in the day than normal. I don't know if it was that or just the general cooldown of late but the temperature was quite agreeable to me. Plus the day is somewhat gusty. That helps.

I did again notice the problems of being in the direct sun. It has a significant effect on how beat I feel.

Normally when I run, I'm too busy focused on the run to think of anything else. Not so, today. My mind could wander for a lot of it. I even got to time the first mile marker. I think I'd forgotten to think about it by the second (also, I had no friggin' clue where it was).

That first mile I ran in about 8.5 minutes. The second one must've been a bit slower and the final 3/4 a drag because the total run was somewhere between 25 and 26 minutes.



I noticed the roads were a lot busier today. I'm guessing that's largely because of the hour. More traffic, more kids, more people out and about. I didn't see a lot worthy of noting, although the house that last time was having historically accurate construction work done was, paradoxically, having high-tech security work done.

The big reason for why I feel so good about today's run: no palpitations. I think I noticed a twinge twice where the ol' ticker was thinkin' about skipping a beat. But it didn't. I noticed nothing funky from the chest beyond that.

So that makes me feel good. Hell, that makes me feel great! I'm getting better at running longer distances (although I still couldn't do the Beach to Beacon, I'm sure (ask me about my Beach to Beacon joke!)) and the heart seems to be reacting well to actually doing things.

Maybe the palpitations were a sign that my heart wanted action? Or maybe just a psychosomatic thing? I'm not guaranteeing that they're gone, but I feel optimistic.

Talking with Liz the other day, I realized they'd dropped in frequency pretty significantly. There are three things that I think contribute to this: change in diet, dramatic cutback on booze intake, exercise.

And I feel good! So... hooray for that.

Hooray!

Joggin, Day Seven!

Man, the map says 2.59 miles, but I'd swear that felt more like 2.6!

Actually, it didn't. Today's jog once again felt pretty darn good. I kept up a consistent pace the entire time, I was tired at the end, but I also felt myself smiling AND I managed to run pretty quickly for the final leg.

So I'm calling it a success.

There's a mostly-solid blanket of clouds, which helped. Also, it's warm but not hot and most importantly, it is not humid. As I stepped outside there were little drops of water falling intermittently. It wasn't sprinkling and it certainly wasn't raining. It was just thinking about it. Putting it's big toe in before diving in the lake.

I guess it thought it was too cold, because for the duration of my jog, no rain fell. And when I made it home, the sky did the same thing again. Sent down a few exploratory drops and then decided against raining.

Today I saw a uniform truck parked off the Western Prom. He wasn't making a delivery. I'm assuming he was having a lunch break. Sitting in the middle of the prom was a nurse stretching. He saw me coming and a look came over his face like he most've known how silly he looked. Wearing his blue hospital suit, pulling back his leg and craning his back while overlooking the Fore River and South Portland.



I saw another jogger today. And as I came around the crook of the Western Promenade Road - about where it hits ninety degrees by the cemetery, I saw another delivery truck parked out, having lunch.

I saw a construction crew working on an old red house. They were restoring the roof and the side of the truck promised that they were "historically accurate." I saw another reroofing project that made no such project and, in fact, tossed a mess of shingles down three stories through living tree branches.

I saw two little girls standing outside an apartment complex. They were dressed in full headscarf and flowing dress apparel.

I saw an old punk. He was out walking his dog. Skinny. He had impressive male pattern baldness. What was more impressive, though, was the hair he had. It was about a foot long and died orange. He was wearing a white t-shirt, tattered jean vest, chucks and, I believe, just plaid boxers for pants. His vest was covered in patches and safety pins. He was smoking a cigarette and contemplating picking up his dog's poop.

He'd apparently thought about it enough as I started to run by as that's when he dropped the cigarette, made a glove from the plastic bag and picked up after his dog.

I saw four kids in their late teens. Their dress was hipster-lite and they were wielding DIY kites made from trash bags.

As I rounded the corner closest to the hospital, I saw someone had left tiny jars of play-doh on the dirt-retaining wall.

I did have palpitations. The requisite three. They felt pretty minor, but I recorded them this time (finally!) and sent them in to Philips.

Now to shower and meditate on dinner. And the Brenda album. I'm still not sure what all I'm going to write about.

Joggin, Day Six!

This was, hands down, the hardest day of jogging I've done yet.

And I'm not entirely sure why.

Actually, I have my suspicions. Suspicions that rhyme with "nehydration" and "nexhaustion."

I did manage to complete the jog, though! And I managed to tack on a bit more distance, although I did do that at the expense of my overall speed.

I also am blaming the air quality today. It is thick and unforgiving and the sun is hot. Any time I spent in the light of the Sun left me instantly ruing the lack of trees or buildings for cover. It felt like I was breathing bus exhaust most of the time. Unsatisfying, to say the least.

I took off running and was having issues by the time I reached the prom... not a quarter of a mile into the jog. I don't think I slept properly the night before. Just not enough sleep. On top of that, I drank a fair amount of coffee Friday. While my coffee drinking today wasn't eyebrow-raising in any way, I think I might've still been working from a hydration deficit. Or at the least just having recently gotten to the point of proper hydration.

And man did I sweat today. It is humid and hot. This must be what it feels like to be a thermometer. Just tiring, oppressive heat.

So I started slowing down after reaching the bottom of the hill by the Western Cemetary, just 3/4 of a mile in and knowing it was, literally, all uphill from there. My legs started really protesting by the Ohno Cafe and I was in deep trouble when I turned onto Pine Street.



Then I got a second wind as I stepped onto Vaughan, I think I mostly just realized that I was going to make it. A lot of my motivation stems from "20 minutes isn't so long, in the scheme of things."

And I crossed the finish line and, despite the slow down, my time wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Still not good, of course, but better than I'd expected.

I wheezed and shuffled around the block to cool down, made it back to the apartment and realized there was no way I could stretch. There's no sun and I'm so dehydrated I'm in danger of falling over at any minute.

Stumble up the stairs, pour myself a glass of water. Sit and try not to think about the sheen of sweat over every single inch of me. Dripping down my temples, down my nose.

Just drink the water.

By and by I come back to life and regain some semblances of consciousness. I pick up a magazine, leaf through that as I pound more and more water.

And now I'm feeling OK. It's been about an hour.

Palpitations were minor. I can count on about three per jog, it sounds like. But whereas before I've had sustained flutters over the course of a couple beats, today I just had single spasms. Despite all my complaints.

And I feel good about that, at least.

Today I saw a woman in a sundress chasing after her dog. As I approached, I saw her get out a little poop baggie. Hopefully for the dog. I saw a family picnicking. I saw an evergreen bent back in an uncomfortable looking yogic bridge pose. I saw the same man with the tremendous stomach reading on the prom. I smelled barbecues and smoke. I smelled buses pass me by. I heard women speaking in a foreign tongue. I waved goodbye to my roomer as he left for work.

All right. Now to shower, eat something and go to bed. Some of us have to work stupefying hours.

PS: Worth noting with both days five and six that if you click on the image of the map, it'll take you to the walkjogrun site and you can read more info about my progress. If you're into that, that is.

Joggin, Day Five!

I feel real good about today's jog.

I've been consistently adding length onto my routes. I'm now up to 2.26 miles. Today I ran quite fast for the last block, I wouldn't call it a sprint just yet but it was a real run. There was a legitimate quickness to it. Plus as I finished I felt great! Like I could've kept running.

Of course, I didn't. I don't want to overdo it and wind up miserable for the rest of the day. But I feel good! I'm excited.

There were also two changes that I feel are relevant. I didn't use headphones today. I think I'm going to keep it that way. I like being able to think, or not, I suppose, about whatever I want when I jog. Plus I get my own songs stuck in my head. And that's just fine.



The other (bigger) difference was the route change. Instead of finishing the leg around the cemetery and then heading straight up Vaughan Street I now run down Danforth Street. Those of you familiar with West End topography will recognize that this cuts out a pretty steep incline, instead spreading it out over the gentler slope of Brackett Street.

That was much preferred and I think made the rest of the jog much easier. Plus I got to do more of the jog before the uphill part, which is an easier way to distribute my energy.

Also, I had very little in the way of heart kerfuffles. There was a minor flutter toward the beginning, but once I started controlling my breathing a little more the problems ceased.

Neat! I'm excited for Friday's jog.