Answering questions you didn’t know you wanted to ask
Week 2 had 22 miles penciled in for it, so I started the week off Monday, the 7th, by running no miles at all. Forgot to set the alarm. My devoted wife worked all day and into the evening. I was home all day with my 5-year-old daughter as usual.
Tuesday, January 8th, I got in (out?) 2.2 miles around my neighborhood. Here’s an opportunity to answer two questions: When do I run? and Why are your runs in my ‘hood 2.2 miles long.
I am a stay-home dad so my free time comes when my daughter goes to preschool 3 mornings a week on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. On Thursdays, my parents pick her up from school and have fun with her until about 5 pm. So I run long or superlong on Thursday when no one is home anyway and save other short and medium runs for Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday. Wednesday is usually a rest day before a long run on Thursday. And Monday is….Monday. Despite not having a 9-5 job, I find it hard to get up at 5:30 Monday mornings to run before my wife has to go to work. I have some trouble getting to sleep most nights anyway, so it’s possible that I might get only 3 or 4 hours of sleep before the alarm goes off so I can run around my local streets in the dark when the wind chill is around 15 degrees. Monday mornings are a good time to karate-chop the clock for two more hours of sleep and 2.2 less miles on my shoes.
Why 2.2 miles? Because it’s there. Actually, here’s an odd coincidence: The last place I lived had a run that was .3 miles to a small island that was 1.6 miles around (like the Brick Reservoir) then .3 miles back to the house for 2.2 miles. When we moved to our new place a few years ago, here at the end of a cul-de-sac, I found that a straight out-and-back route to the edge of our development was 1.1 miles. Double that- 2.2 miles. Here’s an odder coincidence: When I mapped a more serpentine route between home and the turnaround point, it was also 2.2 miles. Now I just run the new route once for 2.2 miles instead of 2 round trips on the old one to avoid both monotony and the suspicious stares from my neighbors and their endless supply of barking dogs. “That curly-headed guy has run by here 4 times today, Ethel! And it’s the second time this week!” More on the laughs I have with non-runners another time.
For now, let’s end the suspense about Tuesday, which was done in 25:13, a crisp 11:28 pace. Wednesday, I did some yoga, but did not run. I went to my new gym for the first time beforehand, but I wasn’t into exploring the machines, so I bailed after a few minutes of briskly walking nowhere and slowly biking nowhere. I realize that yoga may not be terribly manly. Neither is being the one who stays home with a little girl all day to play with her girly princesses, but my commute is zero minutes long and I can wear sweats to work, so there. Plus, an hour of yoga once a week loosens me up and warms my muscles with no impact. It’s a complete change of pace from my hobby of trying to beat up asphalt with my feet all week. It’s good to get loose if you’re planning to run 12 miles the next day.
Tags: health, jogging, manliness, mapping, running, yoga
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.