Finally Started Running Again

I finally started running again. I ran track in high school (mostly to stay in shape for soccer), and ran recreationally in college (because I liked it, and to stay in shape for soccer, and to ward off the Freshman 15, and for my sanity), and then did not run at all (maybe three times, ever) the entire time I was in grad school.

I would love to say that I was very busy working on my M-Div and that is why I didn't run (which would still not be a wonderful excuse). But the truth is, it was very hot in Texas. And it was inconvenient. In NY, MI, and now here in NJ, there were running trails right next to my house/apartment, so I would run, shower, and go on with my day. In TX, there were no trails next to our house and I didn't feel safe running on the road. There is, of course, a trail around ACU, but we did not live all that close to campus, so that would have involved bringing a change of clothes to school, which is inconvenient. I would have had to either wear my running clothes in the morning and get up early to go run before class/work so I could shower at school (I hate mornings and I shower at night) or bring running clothes and run after class/work before I went home (which could have worked, and would have if I'd really been committed) but by that point I had usually been at school 8-5 and didn't feel like running.

Anyway, excuses, excuses. Despite the very convenient (and beautiful!) running trail right by our apartment, and despite the temperate weather, I went 10 months in Princeton without running too. And then about 6 weeks ago, I went for a walk with my friend Julia. She needed to go inside before I did, Jamey wasn't home yet, I was already dressed for running, I was already outside, and I had time to kill before dinner...and the urge to run struck me. So I ran. And BAM! Now I run again. Jamey often goes with me. We didn't run much the week we were in Michigan, and we didn't run at all last week (because I was throwing up for the first 2 days, and recovering for the next 3), but I've run 5-6 days a week for the other 4 weeks. I'm really not pushing myself very hard, and I'm not training for anything (at least not right now, although I might do a 5K the last weekend in July, just for fun). But I don't feel like I just work all day, eat dinner, and watch TV all night and that's all I do. Now I work all day, run, shower, eat dinner, and watch TV all night. :)

Tying this in with "Musical Monday," I'll list my running playlists for the last three weeks below. I like to run with music, and I can't help but sync my run to the music, so I downloaded a "free trial" of Tangerine - a program that analyzes the BPM of each song in your iTunes library. It's only a 15-day trial, and I forgot to write down all the BPMs (I only made the first few playlists) so I found another similar program (beaTunes) with a 15-day trial and did it again. BeaTunes actually also found quite a few duplicates, typos, and other things in my iTunes library that it suggested I fix, so that was a cool supplementary feature (or at least supplementary to me. I think this is actually more what beaTunes is intended to do). So, the playlists:

Week One (20 minutes, alternating)

• Warm Up – I Gotta Feeling, Black Eyed Peas
• Run – Mamma Mia, Meryl Streep
• Jog – The Way You Move, Outkast
• Run – Viva La Vida, Coldplay
• Cool Down – Disco Heaven, Lady Gaga

Week Two (25 minutes, alternating)

• Warm Up – Such Great Heights, The Postal Service
• Run – Day Tripper, David Cook
• Jog – I Believe in a Thing Called Love, The Darkness
  
• Run – High of 75, Relient K
  
• Jog – 1234, Feist
  
• Run – Somebody Told Me, The Killers
• Cool-Down – Tik Tok, Ke$ha

Week Three (25 minutes, just running)

• Warm Up – You Know Me, The Format
• Run – Accidentally in Love, Counting Crows; Outside Villanova, Eric Hutchinson; Sleep Through the Static, Jack Johnson; Go Your Own Way, Fleetwood Mac; Heart, Barracuda
• Cool Down – Tony the Beat, The Sounds

I am nothing if not eclectic.