I know I used too. I couldn't figure out why Nicole or anyone else would want to go running at 5 or 6 o'clock in the morning on a Sunday, or why she would want to run in the middle of winter at temperatures that most people didn't like to even venture outside in, run 26.2 miles or more, run while she is sick, etc. It totally escaped me why runners put themselves through what I used to believe was premeditated self-induced torture.
I just could not figure it out, that was until I found the 'Love of Running' for myself, now I see no issue with any of the above nor quite a few other examples that some people just look at me, shake their head and mumble something like, "Your crazy!" Well maybe I am a little crazy, but I have found a passion for something that is helping me keep in good shape, improves my quality of life, helps reduce stress, make some new friends and most important of all helped bring me out of my shell. Most runners don't care if I am a little bit of a nut, they just see me as another runner, all be it with a bit of a odd twist.
Anyway, I am getting off topic once again, so I will jump back into the 'Crazy' that is the runner and take you through a little trip that was called, 'My Last Couple Of Weeks Of Running'. Which truthfully did not amount to much, since I have been fighting this breathing issue for about the last 4 weeks, lets just say it has put a real damper on any serious progress.
It has been interesting, distances of between 15 to 20 miles have never been a issue for me, I have found that once I pass the mile mark and my legs get warmed up and my breathing regulated I can just put it into cruise control and run. But for the past 4 weeks I have been fighting and fighting to get enough oxygen into my lungs to keep the blood flowing to my muscles, and it has been a losing battle. I can almost say, I know what a asthmatic feels like, finding it harder and harder to maximize my oxygen intake, as it seems like 50 to 60% is the best I can achieve lately. This is most noticeable, when I push past the 6 mile mark or try to push the envelope so to speak by increasing the pace beyond my current comfort level. The harder I try to get more oxygen into my lungs, the more I start to cough and wheeze, which reduces my O2 intake, which hampers my ability to keep my muscles working properly. What further complicates things is that when I stop running, I start to cough uncontrollably and it feels like the passages to my lungs just completely close causing me to fight for any type of air intake at all. I try to make this as inconspicuous as possible, as I know that it will ease up in a minute, but I am quite sure that if someone saw me they would be thinking I was having a full out asthma attack. I get enough attention as it is with my bare feet, I don't want to add to it with this. I have started taking some Chinese herbs for this on the advise of my Acupuncturist and it appears to be helping, as well as some crazy inhaler that I have just gotten prescribed to me from the walk in clinic. Hopefully these items will help me conquer this issue and allow me to get on with running.
So as I said above, running has been limited for me lately but I am still trying to get out when I can. I even was able to run a race, all be it a 10 km run called the 'The River Run' at the Forks near the end of August. It was not my best time, but considering the temperature was hovering around 30 degrees Celsius and my breathing was not good, I will take the 57:16 time that I finished in. Kudos also go to Aldo and Ed who also ran that race and ripped up the course with a sub 40 min and a sub 45 minute run respectively (the only thing that would of made it better was if they were not running in shoes). I was the only one representing the barefoot runners but there was a VFF wearing that I am sure finished in the top 3, so I consider that a victory in itself.
As I mentioned above, my runs have been fairly infrequent, but I have completed a lunch hour trek, a couple of WH3 runs, a couple of runs with City Park and even a couple of late at night runs with no lights (very interesting and let me say your form has to be good and your steps light for those).
I do hope I can overcome this breathing issue soon, because even though my goal for this year is probably not going to happen I want to finish strongly and log as many miles as possible prior to the temperature dropping below my limits.
Here is my logged mileage for the last few weeks.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Barefoot: 4.33 miles
Vibrams: 0.00 miles
Total: 4.33 miles
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Barefoot: 11.25 miles
Vibrams: 0.00 miles
Total: 11.25 miles
Monday, August 22, 2011
Barefoot: 5.37 miles / 4.25 miles
Vibrams: 0.00 miles
Total: 9.62 miles
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Barefoot: 5.67 miles
Vibrams: 0.00 miles
Total: 5.67 miles
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Barefoot: 6.08 miles / 2.25 miles
Vibrams: 0.00 miles
Total: 8.33 miles
Monday, August 29, 2011
Barefoot: 4.75 miles
Vibrams: 0.00 miles
Total: 4.75 miles
Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011
Barefoot: 9.75 miles
Vibrams: 0.00 miles
Total: 9.75 miles
Total This Blog Entry
Barefoot: 53.7 miles
Vibrams: 0.00 miles
Total: 53.7 miles
Year to Date:
Barefoot: 506.14 miles
Vibrams: 75.70 miles
Total: 581.84 miles
Everybody have a great week, get out there and enjoy the good weather while you can, as any Winnipegger knows, the snow and the cold is not that far away, no matter how long you choose to ignore it.
On, On...........
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