Running

[rebeccmeister]

I shouldn't call my activity "running." Much more like jogging; that's less insulting to people who can actually run. I'm still surprised to find myself doing it. I'm not going especially far or anything, but I can tell I need to burn off the energy.

I admire those of you who are able to be articulate about relationship-related matters.

I tend to agree with the psychologists who view catharsis as a problematic strategy for coping with difficult emotions.

There are points where moving to a brand-new city feels like forcing one's identity through a keyhole.

Comments

[bluepapercup]

It's not the speed that counts, it's the activity. My favorite book about running is Chi Running (http://www.powells.com/biblio/17-9780743251440-1), I highly recommend it.

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

Intriguing book! I'm going to read a few other things first, but I'll keep this in mind if/when I reach a point where it's time to read more on running. :-)

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

Movement is good. Movement eases a lot of overwhelming feelings.
Relationship-related matters are a funny thing. Private and multi-faceted and full of multiple truths.

Your last sentence is some serious truth.

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

Yes, movement. As you might imagine, I'm thinking of you as I get to jogging along. I don't know if it's going to pan out as a coping strategy for me, but I've got to keep moving, I know that much.

I feel some strong differences between moving to Texas and moving here, and not just in the sense of what each place has to offer. I was very anxious and lonely when I moved there, and felt very much ripped out of the ground. This time, I feel like I at least have more coping strategies at my disposal - thoughtful and comforting ideas from friends - and I was prepared to leave Texas almost as soon as I arrived. To some extent it also helps to have spent good quality time in Texas with a friend who had recently separated from her husband, talking through what it's like to have to learn how to live solo again. I'm in less of a hurry to go out and try to make friends here.

[ivy]

I call mine running and I average a 12:30 mile over most half marathons, and have for five years, uh, running. [grin] So I bet I'm insulting faster runners more than you are!

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

I don't think anyone actually cares, really. :-)

Maybe the reason I want to call it "jogging" is because I don't really want to push myself to go faster. Anything above a walk is good in my book! So, trotting.

[ivy]

Heh, yeah, I hear that. I am considering trying to be faster for the first time, really. (If I try the half Ironman I will have to shave time off SOMEWHERE. Road bike experiment this weekend will give me some sense of what to expect there, but, if I have to run faster than I do after biking 56 miles I am pretty sure that is not gonna happen.) I tell myself that I'm a persistence hunter. Slow but inexorable. It is hard to feel inexorable with asthma and hills, but whatever keeps one going. [grin]

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

Persistence hunter...I like it. Have you ever done any kind of speed training before? Man, I can see how the asthma really complicates things. Lung health was one of the big reasons I felt I needed to leave Arizona. Such an amazing state, but it will wreak havoc on skin and lungs over time. I was definitely built for cooler climates.

[ivy]

Not since middle school gym or so. After I see the results of this weekend I will decide whether I want to sign up for this or not. I love the Fleet Feet folks, they're super nice, but a) "run around Capitol Hill" probably means "run on concrete" and my knees haaaate that, and b) inside of my head I am not at all a nice person when running/asthmatic. I really have to work to be civilized. Like, people will say "Good job!" and I think "FUCK YOU THIS IS AWFUL!" and I have to remember not to say that or glare. [rueful grin] Especially when they love running, which most people who show up to a running event do. Everyone manages the body under stress in their own way... some people get full of despair, some people just want to follow orders until it's over, I apparently get really toothy. But I have to ride herd on that to continue to live up to being the nice person I want to be, so I'm a little nervous about signing up for something where I am going to have to be in that place and also regularly communicate with people I like without looking snarly.

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

Everyone manages the body under stress in their own way... some people get full of despair, some people just want to follow orders until it's over, I apparently get really toothy. But I have to ride herd on that to continue to live up to being the nice person I want to be, so I'm a little nervous about signing up for something where I am going to have to be in that place and also regularly communicate with people I like without looking snarly.


Ach, there is SO MUCH TRUTH to this.

I could tell you many stories about me getting all sobby towards the end of brevets (apparently despair takes over when I'm that exhausted).

A big part of training and practice is the MENTAL side of it, so I'm glad to observe that you're getting in good preparation and self-tests in advance of committing to the big and potentially crazy events. And you know yourself pretty well, which helps (but makes disappointments like that one trail marathon a bit more painful because you sure tried to communicate what you knew but got blown off and suffered the consequences).

[ivy]

Yeah, for me sobby is "eat something". But like you say, I know that through having practised a lot, heh. (Good judgment comes from experience, experience comes from poor judgment... but at least I have mostly learned from my mistakes!) So I think my next step is to find some free time and do the Olympic distance run-bike-run just to make sure that I can just knock that out the way I think I can. (I'm guessing that's ~4 hours of work for me, we'll see.) I foresee some time staring at maps to find a course where the start and finish are on trail or gravel... maybe I can start at the Arboretum (it's cherry blossom season!) and finish along that Lake Sammamish trail or something. But then I have to either ride back over all those crappy hills again (good training!) or make Mayhem come and fetch me, heh.

[goes back to staring at maps]