Road to Joy

Today I ran an 8 minute pace on the treadmill. Oh horrors. I could not create a better instrument of boredom if I tried for a thousand years. It was a mightily painful forty minutes. I love hyperbole when talking about treadmills - the worst ever of all time, worse then being hung by my toe-nails, worse than eating live bugs, worse than sitting chained to a wall for years of my life - but not worse than running in below zero temperatures I guess.

I would consider running outside tomorrow, but I think I'm going to have to treadmill-it again because I couldn't find a person to pay for my use of the treadmill in the gym that I went to. I completely stole a treadmill ride tonight. When I walked in there were two glass doors right next to each other. One said, "For Members," and the other said, "For Visitors." I dutifully went through the visitors door only to see the gym spread out before me and absolutely NO employee to pay. So very, very odd. I figured I'd just pay up after my run, but the place was employeeless for the night I suppose. So I'm going to have to be an Honest Abe and go back and pay for my soporific run. Maybe that is their conniving way of getting me back on their stupendously horrific treadmill - tricky devils!!

It was another cold night tonight but I failed to get back to the gym that I owe five bucks to. I couldn't convince baby #3 that he would rather be in his crib than in my arms before closing time came for the gym. My Mom suggested that I use a stationary bike that is gathering dust in the storage room in their basement to get my exercise for the night. I had low hopes that this kind of work-out would be even close to tolerable or begin to create sweat. I was wrong.

The fantastic thing about a stationary bike is that you don't bounce up and down while you are doing it so you can actually read a book. With all the wishing power that I have I wish I could read a book on a treadmill. It would make ALL the difference. I read some of the Federalist Papers while I rode and got to read such gems as this, "A man must be far gone in Utopian speculations who can seriously doubt, that if these States should either be wholly disunited, or only united in partial confederacies, the subdivisions into which they might be thrown would have frequent and violent contests with each other. To presume a want of motives for such contests, as an argument against their existence, would be to forget that men are AMBITIOUS, VINDICTIVE, and RAPACIOUS." The Federalist Papers were written by Hamilton, Madison and a guy named John Jay to try to get the state of New York to ratify the constitution. Apparently New York was pretty gung-ho for a loose confederacy of states instead of a federal union. Anyhow - as indicated by the capital letters, I just loved the choice of adjuctives to describe the sorry lot of us - ambitious, vindictive and rapacious. Rapactious is my favorite descriptor of course, mostly because it sounds the most dastardly. At first when I read the phrase I was offended because I don't like to think of myself in those terms. But doggone it, Hamilton et. al had human nature pretty well pegged. As I went through the first few papers I couldn't help but think of Iraq trying to form as a republican nation and our muddling in it and I was even led to think about basic relationships that I have with people. It gave my mind lots of wandering to do and made me have to reread the parts I cruised over with my eyes while my mind was traipsing around off-course. Anyhow - the time passed quickly and I'm seriously considering some long-term borrowing of the stationary bike.

I put down 4 easy miles as the equivalent of fifty minutes on the bike. I went about 12 miles according to the computer. Four miles might be on the low end of equivalency for distance, but no doubt it would be considered easy miles. Although the bike would make me go uphill every now and again which made my heart beat harder so some sort of exercise did happen.

It was another night on the stationary bike. I was fine with one night of sitting on a bike, but when I figured there was no way I was going to be able to get to a gym for a second night it was hard to not get weighed down in wishes that I still lived in Arizona. Good ol' Arizona where the coldest days were in the 30's at night. Sigh. I knew I loved you then, but I love you even more now that you are gone.

On the positive side, I got some more reading in on the bike. I feel like I'm completely maximizing my free time by exercising and reading at the same time. I had to read the same five pages twice to really understand what was being said. I've always wished that I was smart and that I could retain the things that I read. I'm finding that if I read things twice, I more than double my comprehension. So I guess I might slow down a little bit in what I'm digesting and figure it is better to read and retain than to read more. Hamilton was making all sorts of references to Roman government last night that my brain kept straying away from. The only thing I really remember about the Romans is that they fell to Hannibal who came into Rome on an elephant. I don't know where in my many years of education I was told that Hannibal conquered the Empire on an elephant but it really stuck. I guess because I'd love to conquer anything on an elephant. I wonder how fast they run 26.2?

My Mom called me this morning from work and told me she would be home by 5pm and that I should have my running clothes on and be ready to go out the door. I love Moms. I really do. So I finally got to run outside again and it made me feel joyful in my heart - well after I got through the first mile and a half or so. For the first mile and a half it was mostly me wishing I didn't have a frozen face. But after that things got good and I think I would have kept going after six miles except I knew my Dad was inside with Chinese food. I didn't take my Garmin because I wasn't patient enough for it to pick up satellites. I was freezing right through my two layers of clothes and I didn't think that was a propitious way of beginning. I probably ran around 8 minute miles. I felt a little clunky in my legs and joints - I don't know whether to attribute that to the cold, that I haven't run in a couple of days, not stretching, not getting enough sleep or...there's gotta be something else to add to that list - being an Aquarius? Really I think I do need to give some more time to stretching. My right knee kind o' went out on me a couple of times and I really don't want it to turn into a problem. On a side-note - have you read or heard Obama's speech for the Nobel Peace Prize?  It made me want to be better - I thought he did amazingly well.  The man knows how to string some thoughts together

Here is a link if you want to read it: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/world/europe/11prexy.text.html?em

I think my average was about 8:20.  It snowed last night so I made first tracks on the sidewalks or ran on slippery roads for about 2/3 of the run.  It was a joy to be outside and running though.  Yesterday we came back from Colorado.  The temperature was much warmer here - I was baking in the 20 degree weather.  Nice.

I feel sore today in my calves - probably from the muscles I used to fight the snow.  I had a hard time around mile 8 with feeling hungry.  I think I need to start taking water and a little something in case that happens on the longer runs.  I do like to eat.