Happy anniversary

As I was running today, it occured to me that right about this time (well, maybe November) is my tenth year running anniversary. Hooray for me! Since the traditional tenth anniversary gift is a tin or aluminum item, I guess I won't be buying anything to celebrate it... after all, metal and running don't really seem to go together, do they?

I had quit smoking earlier in the year - which means this year is the tenth anniversary of that event too - and I was putting on the pounds. It wasn't pretty and I figured that I was getting old enough that my regimen of eating whatever I wanted and sitting around wasn't going to work anymore. I had to actually do something now to maintain my weight.

I remember my first run. It was about 300m and by the end of it, my lungs were on fire and I felt like throwing up. Yeah, I was in horrible shape. But despite that horrendous first attempt, I went back the next day. This time I stopped at 250m and the burning wasn't quite so terrible. I gradually began working my way up the distance, usually trying for a continuous run rather than the walk-run-walk-run that they usually recommend for beginners. (Part of this was because I didn't know of this wisdom, and part of it was because it felt like cheating to me to walk part of the time.)

But the thing I kept thinking about as I was running today was that ten years is an awfully long time and I really haven't done anything worth writing about during that time. Sure, the first time I ran a 10k (took me over an hour!) I was pretty proud of myself, and I've run more than one of them, but I really haven't gone the distance, so to speak. I'm not talking marathon here - I don't know that I could manage one of those - but something that stretches me a bit more might be a good idea.


Thing is, I've tried to increase my distance and frequency at various times before. And I find I can't do it. It's not so much the time it takes to do so many runs, though they do require a significant commitment, but it's the exhaustion. When I try to run farther or faster, trying to build up to something more than my 2-3 runs a week, I end up so tired that I spend more time sleeping. And even when I'm awake, I find I'm exhausted enough that I can have difficulty concentrating. Concentration is not something I can give up. I can't afford it.

So I feel stuck at this level of exercise. I still enjoy it, and I notice that if I don't go running for a while I start to feel out of sorts, but I'd like to take on a new, longer challege - maybe a half marathon - without disrupting the rest of my life. Problem is, I don't know that I can accomplish that.

So I feel good that I've been running this long and am still enjoying it, even though I feel like I could be doing more. Guess I'll just have to be happy with that.