Thought About Running While Sitting Still

• I first really ran in 2004, for one magical spring/summer. It was amazing--I ran with a Discman (dating myself?) and my favorite thing to run to was Disc 2 from my Jackson Browne set. It had "I'm Alive," and "I am a Patriot" on it, two of my favorite Jackson Browne songs. There is something very powerful about running outside while listening to the line: "And the river opens for the righteous . . . And the river opens for the righteous . . . someday"


• I ran at night a lot then, as I had no kiddo to take care of--my biggest memory was running one evening, and in the cool breeze of late summer, running non-stop for five miles, my best ever, which included three glorious laps around my favorite park. I felt alive.


• I stopped running because I lacked willpower, and teaching has always consumed my energy.


• I started running again this year with the Couch to 5K program and some great podcasts. I loved it--even though I was slow. I was at the second-to-last week and 28 minute/2 mile + runs when I had to quit denying my foot pain. After three weeks of doctor visits/x-rays/MRIs, the doctor confirmed what I had already found on webmd--I had a stress fracture. I am now condemned to 8 weeks of boot-wearing, and a slow return to exercise.


• In a painfully ironic twist, my new subscription to Runner's World (a birthday gift to myself) arrived the week I started wearing the boot.


• I know I can come back, but I miss my fledging runner's high--I miss the hope that once again I would be circling the park at twilight with a summer breeze cooling my sweaty neck.


• I was reading today about Roger Bannister, one of my runnng heroes, and learned that he has not even jogged in 36 years, due to a shattered ankle recived in a car accident. Wow--that blew my mind. Roger Bannister (google if you don't know his significance) can't run. I know I can, again, and soon. By Christmas maybe I'll even be back at the same spot in my Couch to 5K journey.


• My big, lifetime running goal is to run in at least one marathon. I'd also like to run in the DisneyWorld 1/2 or full marathon. The characters cheer you on!


• I also want to run a 5K with my son, who misses me chasing him around during this period of limited movement.


• Before you start running, it is easy to be still, lazy, a bit of a couch potato. After you run, forced stillness hurts. I know there are worse things, I know that I will soon run and not grow weary, but still.


• I miss you running--don't you forget about me.

Let's Get Physical: Our Home Gym

After nearly 5 years of fits and starts and cramming this room with junk, we finally completed our little unfinished laundry room gym. (If anyone is even vaguely familiar with Jersey Shore (I've never watched it, just seen it on entertainment shows) we can now do laundry and work out in the same room, which means we just need a tanning bed to live up to one of the show's mottos, Gym Tan Laundry.) We added the floor a few years ago, and this time it was about cleaning, sprucing up the walls, and really making this a place to exercise.

The walls were unfinished--you could see the insulation. And although it said formaldehyde-free, it was still tough to run next to. We had talked about totally finishing the walls, stapling fabric over it, and other ideas, but nothing was happening. As I've been doing the Couch to 5-K, I've been on the treadmill a bit, and the walls were driving me nuts. I bought a ton of posterboard, taped up workouts and inspirational stuff I'd saved from magazines, Mr. Cool helped me staple them to the wall, and voila! Workout wallpaper!

This is now a pretty happy place to work out (especially since we've also added an oscillating fan), and just yesterday I had my first 20-minute run in its friendly confines. If you ever come and stay with us, feel free to use the facilities!

Holding Pattern

I do have a longer post on pregnancy--complete with photos!--in the works, but I'm taking a quick break from that for this viral video. This is a jump rope group, performing at the Naval Academy, and while it's long, it will make you feel intensely bad about your cardio fitness. Also, it made me teary. I have no idea why.

ETA: My amazon.com blog links have also led me to this great site--although, if you are my parent, rest assured I'm not nodding and jotting these down.