Last year, I made a new year’s resolution to stop caring so much about the number of miles I cycled. I failed miserably, logging the miles of each ride and comparing where I was in relation to where I needed to be to reach 7,000 miles. I did reach 7,000 miles but I feel that they were somehow empty, devoid of meaning other than mileage for the sake of mileage.

This year, I’m taking that resolution to a whole ‘nother level. Also, it’s been raining a lot, and I just don’t have the gear (or willpower) to commute by bicycle in the rain. Also, the rain causes Mission Valley to flood, which really screws up the bike commute.

A seed was planted in my head a long while ago, during the Athens Summer Olympics, as I watched the marathon events. The seed began to germinate when I started to think, “I could do that.” Since then, the seed has been in stasis, partly because of my focus on cycling, and partly because of my prejudice against running:

• Running is hard
• Running is hard on feet
• Running is hard on knees
• Running is going to make my body all droopy from all the impacts
• Running is really slow compared with cycling
• Running is hard

A few days ago I looked out at the rain and thought “That looks like fun. I think I’ll go run in it.” So I put on a crappy pair of sneakers and set out, marveling at how easy it is to just go out for a run. No special clothing, no gloves, no checking tire pressure, none of that bike stuff. I found an easy loop near my house and did it twice. According to the Gmaps Pedometer, the loop is about 1 2/3 miles so on my first outing I did a nice 3+ mile run.

And you know what? It felt great. So great that I did it again the next night, though by then I was pretty sore. It was strange: my cardio was ready for more but my legs just don’t have the right muscles yet, and they began to protest. Mainly by stopping to move. The next day I could barely move them but I’m recovering quickly and I think I may go out again tonight.

Screw my droopy body, and screw the pain. I might just start training for a marathon.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 22nd, 2010 at 12:58 and is filed under Running, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.