Morning Run

I started running yesterday, not in an attempt to get away from yellow jackets, but rather to try and keep myself in shape.  I guess turning thirty, while not bothering me in terms of the age, made me realize that my body is getting older and will probably start changing pretty swiftly unless I take action to make sure that it doesn't.  While I eat a mostly healthy diet, its not perfect, and as such I guess I feel the need to run a little to make sure that the unhealthy parts of my diet don't start taking their toll.  The most unhealthy parts of my diet would have to be the occasional candy bar (usually Snickers, Twix, or Kit Kat) that I get from The Home Depot when I am buying supplies and the beer that I enjoy drinking in the evenings.  I figure that by running instead of walking my dogs in the morning, I can balance things out a little bit more. (I know I could cut out the candy bars, but the beer is a different story altogether)  Now before I move on, let me be clear and state that I have never been a fan of running.  Even when I was back in high school and had to run as part of training for sports, I would often times do the least amount possible or find short cuts on the runs we had to do together.  Perhaps I never enjoyed running because no one really ever taught me how to run.  (I know, one foot in front of the other at a more rapid pace than walking)  In addition, whenever I have had the bright idea to start running before, I would always go over board, run much farther than my body was capable of, and end up being overly sore and un-motivated within a few days.  I am hoping things will be different this time and I can perhaps keep running for more than a week. 

Even now, I am still not a big fan of running.  Although I must say, the last two mornings have left me feeling pretty good after my runs despite the shortness of breath after not having run a sustained distance in years.  I figured the best way to start would just be to jog/run my morning walk route which isn't terribly long.  By doing this, I hopefully won't overstress my muscles and consequently get tired of running in a week.  The only part I have left to figure out is how to get both of my dogs running at the same pace.  My younger one, Aspen, I have no problem with.  He is a fitness machine built solely of muscle and skin and can match any pace I set from a jog to a full out sprint (which I probably won't be doing anytime soon).  My older dog, Princess, is a different story all together.  She is about five years old now, and while not fat by any means, she is not exactly a "fitness machine".  Currently, Princess lags behind a little bit, forcing me to go a little slower than I want to.  She is capable of keeping one of two paces, walking or running, nothing in between.  Unfortunately, I am not at the point where I can go fast enough for her to run along with me and I am not going slow enough for her to walk like she wants to.  As such, she likes to trot along, never quite up to my speed, and keep my body almost at an angle while running.  I am hoping that as I keep on running (hopefully), that she will get into better shape and be able to keep up with Aspen and myself.  I will give her a week to get her muscles adjusted and toned up before I figure out an alternative to taking her running with me.  I am guessing that her muscles are sore because yesterday she did much better than she did this morning.  Oh well, we shall see what happens.

It was interesting to see the difference between my two dogs yesterday morning.  After we returned from our run, Aspen wasn't even breathing hard and looked like he could go for another mile or two.  Princess and I on the other hand were drenched in sweat and breathing hard.  Even with the run, Aspen needed another walk yesterday evening with my wife after which he still had a mountain of energy.  In any case, I did actually enjoy my run yesterday (just don't go telling too many people out there).  I am going to wait to see till later how I feel after this mornings run.  At this point, I am still waiting for the caffeine from my coffee to kick in before I figure out how I feel.  I hope I can see this running thing through and don't come up with too many excuses why I can't go running in the morning.  For now, at least, my muscles aren't that sore although I feel the fact that I have been running for two days now.  Luckily, I didn't decide to start running after sitting in a desk at work all day for years.  Being up on my feet, and climbing up and down ladders all day helps keep my leg muscles in decent shape.  I figure for now, I will keep my running route restricted to the same one I use for walking.  Maybe next week I will increase the distance and see how I feel.  The only issue with the increase is that I can't do it incrementally.  I will have to either double my distance or keep to my walking route, there just aren't that many options around my house for too many different routes.  We shall see next week what happens and if I make it that far with my new running program, I will let you know how it goes.