Run or Jog?

If you run you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run. - John "the Penguin" Bingham


Jog: to move up and down or about with a short heavy motion. - Merriam Webster  

I don't know about you, but I don't want to be a jogger...it just doesn't look good according to Merriam Webster. Besides there are days that I just don't feel that svelte and to have someone say that they saw me "jogging" doesn't make me feel any better about myself. I want to feel strong and somewhat swift on my feet! One of the first things I read in a book called The Complete Book of Running for Women says in a nutshell, that running is anything that is faster than walking.

YESSSS!!!! I LIKE THAT.

So yeah, I run. Been a running for a while, but more consistently for the past 2-3 years. The idea to run came to me way back when we lived at Salmon Creek Estates. We used to run around the condo complex or go over to Alki Middle School and run on the track. In fact, that's all we used to do - run on the track. How BOR-ING! I never really reached any sort of distance with all the effort I put into it either. I felt pretty good about myself if I could run at least one lap without stopping and running a mile and not losing count of which lap I was on was a huge accomplishment :) Back then I didn't have any idea what this running stuff was about, so really, I was pretty clueless.

These days I'm slowly, but surely running 3, 4 and 5 miles. I have long since abandoned my latest training plan that I started last fall, topping out at 7 miles...man that hurt. I keep at it though and run at least two times a week on the treadmill and out on the road on the weekend, if there are no cycling events scheduled. In past years I would run until cycling season started and then abandon all efforts to improve my running to ride instead - I do have my priorities straight after all. However, my goal this year  is to continue running more regularly during the summer months so that when it's time to hang up my bike, I won't have to work so hard at building up my base miles this Fall/Winter. I must be getting it.

Really though, I have come to enjoy running more than I have in past years and hope to continue on for as long as my body lets me. Although I'm not one to really pay attention to what my body is telling me. Not right away anyway. The year that we did the Livestrong Challenge 5K I ended up with a stress fracture, but didn't know it. After Livestrong I continued to run and ride and ignored it all the way until December of that year. When I finally visited the podiatrist and he took a look at the x-ray he mentioned that it looked like I had a stress fracture and that it was nearly healed and that I should lay off running until the beginning of the year. Which worked out since the next event was the First Run at midnight on Jan 1, 2009. It was a perfect time for a rest! Yeah, I don't allow much time for rest after an unknown injury.

I'm more apt to take a day of rest when I feel puny or even a few days if needed. I don't freak out (as much) when I do take a rest. Restless, I do feel restless sometimes, but I get over it. It's amazing that even when I'm still sleepy and get on the treadmill that it doesn't take long to "wake up" only to feel sleepy again afterwards...hehe. Anyway, enough blathering on about running

Bottom line is...I like running not jogging.

Run-Ride-Run Bay-Bee!