Running for Geeks

I’d loved running since I started doing it in 2010, but after my December 2016 marathon, which was miserable, I was blistered, beaten down, and burned out. Now I’m in this weird running purgatory. As of this writing, I’ve run seven times in 2017 and maybe one or two times more than that since the marathon, and most of all that was walking intervals.

I knew it would take several weeks to heal from the physical pounding of such an event, but I hadn’t imagined how long it might take to heal mentally and emotionally. Knowing that it’s not uncommon for a runner to find herself in a bit of a funk and needing a short break or recovery season doesn’t make it easier to deal with.

But instead of worrying over it, I’ve spent the down time lifting weights, developing a personal yoga practice, walking more, fighting zombies, and hatching Pokémon. The Pokémon Go and Zombies, Run! apps got me through the most mind-numbing miles or marathon training, and I have faith that they will help me find the drive to run many more.

Competition is a great motivator, and sure, you can invite friends or coworkers to challenges like logging the most steps per day on FitBit, but that doesn’t interest me these days. I need more creative and interactive fitness-driven games.

So I find myself absorbed in collecting a virtual zoo. In addition to spawning wild monsters, the PoGo app spontaneously distributes eggs to hatch into Pokémon, achieved by walking or slowly running 2K, 5K, or 10K, depending on the egg, up to nine eggs at a time.

Zombies, Run! is an interactive, narrative audio game about YOU saving the world from zombies, mad scientists, lions, and rogues all while collecting supplies to expand, upgrade, and protect your virtual home base. The writing is absolutely brilliant, and the cast of characters is delightfully diverse, including many women and queers, with those identities being merely incidental not integral to the plot itself. Each time, I can barely wait for my next mission; the engaging story always has me wishing I could run more miles or minutes to find out what happens next.

Combining North Texas’ bizarrely beautiful spring weather of late, that Team Valor “gotta hatch ‘em all!” attitude, and the encroaching apocalypse, I’ll find the joy of running again soon enough.

June Journaling 1-2

I found a list of daily prompts for journaling in June and thought I'd give it a shot.

1. A step you have taken toward your goals:

I'd set my alarm so I could get up and run at 5 a.m. for Global Running Day, but I was sleeping so well when it sounded that I just turned it off. I woke nearly 2 hours later and still had time to run before work, so I threw on my gear and set out with a goal of running at least 4.5 miles in an hour.

I had to stop a lot because the volume on my Zombies, Run! missions was too low to hear, and the app kept stopping my music entirely. Even so, the weather was unseasonably cool and I enjoyed it.

I saw a man leaving his house with two dogs, and I slowed as I approached because they were unleashed. The big brown one looked to be a bully breed mutt (boxer and pitbull look) and came right up to greet me and ask for pats and leaned against my legs sweetly. I've found this is usually the case with big dogs; stop running and say hi. The little one jumped around excitedly too, and the owner said the little one was for sale as I fawned over the bigger one. "Thanks, but we have cats." He took them in the opposite direction for a walk, and I continued my run.

I was surprised with all my stops to log 4.85 miles total in about 65 minutes. The humidity had me totally covered in a sheen of sweat and dripping from my elbows as I ran. It felt good, though; I'd taken too long a break. It may have been just what I needed, though, to tackle marathon training with fresh enthusiasm.

2. Something good from last week:

• I finished that damn triathlon.
• We had a neat presentation at work from Camp Gladiator coaches and got free lunch, too.
• My escort shift at the clinic on Friday was pleasant. I brought my big rainbow umbrella to block the protesters' view, and one woman extended her middle finger to them all the way as she walked up the steps to the clinic doors.
  
  The protesters call out to say that the crisis pregnancy center (link to exposé on another local CPC) a few doors down offers free pregnancy tests and sonograms. Somehow I doubt that people walking into an abortion clinic need a pregnancy test.
  
  You should know: families with small children come into the clinic EVERY DAY.
  
  At another volunteer shift, one escort told me that she'd seen a father come out with a fussy 18-month-old and quip that he hoped the tot was making the choice easier for others in the waiting room, because he was DEFINITELY making it easier for mom.