I was recently reading about a variety of new gadgets for
runners. I tend to zone in on these articles because about five
years ago I took up jogging.
I was recently reading about a variety of new gadgets for runners. I tend to zone in on these articles because about five years ago I took up jogging. It was initially recommended by my doctor for a number of reasons, including stress release and general health. Unless you have a medical reason, or bad knees, jogging can be very good for you.
Now, in case you’re thinking I was one of those athletic types in school, I wasn’t. I did try out for several sports but wasn’t very athletic in general. Mediocre was all I could hope for at best, and my worst sport was running. If there were 100 people in a race, chances are I’d be in the last 10 percent.
Plus, I never got any joy from running. Instead I’d get a pounding heart, find myself gasping for air and get really tired of people telling me I ran like a girl. I did and still do. But jogging is different.
After making all the new jogger mistakes , such as running as fast as I could, trying to avoid investing in good jogging shoes and not wearing a headset, I slowly but surely learned to love jogging.
In the beginning, my jogging partner and I did half-mile increments. It didn’t take us long to figure out we didn’t jog at the same pace. Eventually we did one-mile increments until we were up to three miles. I probably would have stayed at three miles had my friend not kept increasing her run. And though I might not be very good at sports, I am competitive. If my friend could run five miles, so could I.
And I did. My morning jogs turned into four, five and six miles runs each week. Eventually we settled for three weekly five-mile runs. Last year, due to circumstances beyond my control, I found myself out of the jogging loop. Occasionally I’d run to try to keep the miles up, but more often than not I declined.
Then came the new year and the yearning to jog again. Just last week I managed two five-mile treks and one four-mile. I’m starting to remember how good it feels to push past the wall into the “I can jog forever” feeling. I’ve never run more than seven miles so I don’t know how long that feeling lasts, but it’s incredible when it happens.
I have to say though, when it comes to most things, including jogging, I’m cheap. I do make sure I have the proper shoes because it’s a necessity, but I don’t wear cute little jogging clothes and a matching sweatband or any of those other accessories some joggers do. The only reason I even own a pair of jogging pants is because a friend gave me some. I love them and almost fell apart recently when I realized they were on their last leg (no pun intended).
Now, with all this jogging you might think I’d be thin. I’m not. It might have something to do with several factors. One, I’m not very fast. Two, I tend to allow myself lots of extra sweets under the rationale that since I’ve jogged five miles, I’m entitled to a few (make that several) extra calories.
Music while jogging is an absolute necessity for me. There is nothing more tiring than hearing myself gasp for air while running. I keep the music low enough to hear cars and other sounds around me but loud enough to drown out my gasping. Unfortunately, I recently lost the battery cover to my headset and replaced it with packaging tape. According to my kids, I now look tacky when I jog.
In the interest of increasing my speed, maybe I should check out some of the latest devices for joggers. There are speed laces, which sound great, but on closer look, can’t guarantee to decrease my time. Clothing made from synthetic materials are supposed to be lighter than cotton. Maybe that would be a way to increase my speed. Or maybe I should just drop some weight instead. GPS monitors can tell me when I’m off-track, but I’ve yet to jog that far. A sports watch could tell me everything from calories burned to my time. Hmm, that might be a birthday gift idea.
Bottom line – no matter how many gadgets I buy or wear, I’ll never be a front-runner. But that’s OK. My joy comes from jogging, even at the back of the pack.
