Nothing perks up your spirit in winter like a morning run

“How far are you running today?” the flagger asked as I jogged past the construction site.

“Three miles,” I yelled back. Am I really a runner, I wondered as I continued?

Naw, I’m not a runner. A runner is someone who runs marathons, competes in the 100-yard dash or trains for cross country races. I’m not a runner, or am I? I have been jogging through my neighborhood for the past 13 years. And I did compete in a half marathon once and a couple of 10Ks. Does that qualify me as a runner? 

I remember in school I hated running. I wasn’t fast, and I tired easily. I never really gave running another thought until around my 50th birthday. I knew I needed to exercise, so I decided to give running a try.

I carefully measured a mile with my car, then set out to see how fast I could run the mile and back. Whenever I ran, I would try and run faster than my previous time. Each time I would come back exhausted, and before long decided running was truly not for me.

I’m sure I would never have run again if not for my friend Michele Lehmann, a professional physical therapist. When I told Michele about my attempts at running, she laughed and told me I was doing it all wrong, and then she offered to help me train.

We started by simply walking. We would walk a mile one day, then increase the distance a little at a time. After a while she let me slowly jog. I had a heart rate monitor, so instead of trying to beat the clock, I would jog according to my heart rate.

When my heart rate got too fast, Michele had me slow down. When it was slow enough, I could speed up. By listening to my own rhythms, I realized I could jog much longer distances without getting winded.

Within a couple of months I was jogging between three and five miles three times a week. I continued to work out with my heart rate monitor, but I also started timing my runs. Before long that old competitive spirit kicked in, and I decided to compete in a 10K race with a goal of running it in the same time as my age, 51.

I came close, finishing with a time of just over 54 minutes. After a couple more 10Ks, and a half marathon, I gave up competition and now just run for fitness.

Over the years I’ve discovered a few things about jogging. The hardest step to take is the first step out the door. You can always come up with a hundred excuses why you shouldn’t run that day. It’s too cold. You’re too tired. You can run later in the day, etc. But once you begin, all those excuses melt away.

A good day of jogging for me is one where I get friendly waves from the neighbors, and I don’t get passed by any diesel vehicles. If a diesel truck does pass me, I try to take shallow breaths until the air clears.

The most dangerous time of the day to jog is early in the morning when moms are rushing to get their kids to school on time. You would think moms with school children in the car would be more respectful of speed limits.

Now jogging for me has become an addiction. When I can’t run for a period of time, like when I’m traveling, my body begins to crave running. I feel totally out of balance until I can lace up my running shoes again.

I know you’re wondering what this has to do with weather. Actually not much, except for the fact that on these cold dreary winter days, nothing perks up your spirits and chases the blues away like an early morning run, or walk, to get the day started. Like the Nike commercial says, “Just do it.”

November summary

November started out as you would expect, with rain the first 14 days of the month. In fact, on the seventh, I recorded one my highest one day totals since I’ve been keeping records, 1.51 inches. Downtown recorded 1.75 inches. But then, on the 15th the rain stopped, and we didn’t get any precipitation for the next seven days. During the first 14 days, we recorded over 80 per cent of our monthly rainfall. I recorded a measly three days of sun for the month. Contrast that to November of 07, when we had 11 days of sunshine and only 1.29 inches of rain.

Only 11 more days to the winter solstice, when our days start getting longer.