Running – Part II

So, I’m running and it’s fun, exhausting, exhilarating and sometimes more of a challenge than I’d really pretend is comfortable…but I’m having fun – in a kind of “warped sense of humour” kind of way.

But there’s more to this running than simply running!  Oh yes there is!  I foolishly assumed that all one had to do was don the tracksuit bottoms, the t-shirt and head off.  Well, that might be ok for the first few weeks, but sooner or later, you have to buy some proper running apparel.

You’d assume this was easy, but you’d be wrong.  Running fashion is an emerging market.  It is no longer just jump into something and run.  Oh no, there is an art to this and it begins at the door of the shop itself, before you have really started to understand all the challenges ahead.

In the “old days”, it was simply shorts and t-shirt, but now there are logos, pockets, zips, designer labels, and wick away moisture, dri fit (sic).  And to add to this mix, do you stay with the one label or mix and match?  Nike, Asics, Adidas, Haglofs, Sweaty Betty (really!), North Face – and those are just the ones that come to mind.

Shocking pinks, bright orange, striking lavender, jet black, slate grey, lime green, daffodil yellow and flourescent white stripes.  Zips and pockets strategically placed to assist with keys, iPods,  nanos and MP3 players.

Sigh – shopping used to be easy.

Now, the biggest issue here isn’t the clothes per say, it’s also the size of the clothes.  Are all runners midgets with a waist?  All the clothes seem to be small, extra small and (horror of horrors) fitted.  Hugging your every curve, if only one had curves to hug…  If ever one needed a lesson in humility – running apparel will do it every time.  I’m not yet sure if it makes me humble, motivated, depressed or suicidal when I try on some of these outfits.  In my minds eye, I do not look like that – loose the mirrors.

Suffice to say, I haven’t yet managed to buy lots of new clothes (yet)!

Running – Part I

I’ve starting running!!  Now, I don’t want you to skip that…so it bears repeating – I’ve started running!!

In our garage, alongside the baby trampoline, cross trainer and various gym-like items…we now have a running machine. This thing has more flashing lights than a Christmas tree. When I key in the incline and the speed, and I have to brace myself as it lurches to a start – the machine is lit up like an airport runway.

So, the dream sequence in my head has me long-limbed, trendy outfit, great running shoes, moving gazelle-like through a fast program of interval training, completing half an hour of running with ease, and then moving on to the cross trainer with no noticeable effort.

Dream on!!

I turn up in baggy tracksuit bottoms, and for these freezing mornings, long sleeved t-shirt and fleece. I do my interval training – yes, but the reality is that I lumber along with the grace of a wrestler and the speed of a hamster. I finish the fast section gasping for breath, sweating profusely and needing oxygen. The first 30 seconds of the slow section is spent trying to get my lungs to keep from exploding.

Why am I doing this? No, seriously, why am I doing this?? It seems like such a good idea as I head off to bed planning to do it in the morning, but at 5.30am when the alarm clock shatters my silence, my whole being groans. The stretching is torture, my back refuses to move for at least ten minutes, touching my toes..oh don’t be ridiculous! Press the speed button, lengthen your stride, get the music going, remember to breathe…oh yeah, I have to fit that breathing stuff in with all the other things to remember.

And yet, and this is where it is fascinating…through it all, I’m having huge fun. I find myself pleased once I’ve started. Keen to continue and eager to improve. I’ve gone from never having run at all – in decades…yes, a very long time, to enjoying myself. I feel challenged, I feel exhausted, I feel exhilarated and also – virtuous. Forget the untrendy clothes, forget the struggling lungs…the endorphins make it worthwhile. Mentally, I’m walking tall.

The hope is fitness, health and please God some weight loss, but I’m told if I concentrate on the first two, the third will follow.

So, tell me, how long will it take to actually look gazelle like…?