Run Paint Run Run

I did some calf exercise research and it all stinks. But, this looks fun:


And according to this article I'm doing a fine thing by not stretching, thanks:

To Stretch or Not to Stretch

The article states that there is no evidence that stretching prevents injury and actually you use more energy with loose muscle. It does seem to be good for creating long, lean muscle though.

Break My Stride

Yesterday I rushed through work and then rushed on home, determined to get some miles in before my Night Plans. I wound up completing a paltry 2.8 miles before rushing home through the embarrassing part of the run – the "public" part where the cars and bikers ride on the Jamaicaway. I don't mind being a complete sweaty mess around the Pond but when I venture out alongside the road I get ridiculously self-conscious because I often see people I know breezing by looking fabulous and cute – I had to take this shorter route though to make it home in time for a shower and costume change. I had grabbed a portable listening device that actually works this time but did not have a hand in any of the pre-set playlists so I was at first just doing one song selection at a time, which wasn't very practical, so I just hit random and got the luck of the draw. This whole back-up music player was a plus because my alternate plan was just going to be humming "Break My Stride (I've Got to Keep On Moving)" to myself over and over.

As luck would have it, a ton of Francois de Roubaix came on and this was surprisingly great to run to, making me feel like I was being stylishly chased. And the unfortunately-named Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich helped me to pick up the pace a lot.

When I headed home for the shower it was completely dark outside and I found this to be a bit challenging as the area is not lit at all and I was having trouble playing "what am I stepping on now?" and deciphering what was dirt, gravel, pavement or tree root. And the car headlights were distracting. My father frowned upon this running in the dark business on the grounds of ease-of-assault (this is a man who knows every state's law on shipping and receiving stun guns and who thoughtfully provided my sister and I with mace and a handful of home rapid-test disease kits for our college years), but if he saw my ridiculous running outfits I think his fears would be assuaged.

Morning

Then this morning I ran 3 miles! I got up at 6:30 and by the time I made it to the Pond it was light enough to run comfortably. It was a TOUGH 3 miles though and I suspect I was dragging from the 4 course/wine pairing food orgy that kicked my ass last night at Ten Tables. I think I'll rest tomorrow.

First Day's Run!

I ran 4.25 miles yesterday afternoon. A good mile and a half should probably be classified as a very bouncy walk but it was 4.25 miles in total just the same. Felt pretty good after and strutted over to Cambridge to meet up with a friend and shopped. I also organized my records and my books!

My portable listening device totally crapped out on me though for the run and I have only 10 songs on it now. Only 1 was fist-pumping enough to run to so I put that on repeat until I was absolutely sick of it. It is Lorraine Ellison's version of "Stay With Me"



and then I tried to work Al Hibbler but just couldn't so I ran in silence with my thoughts and began wondering if each person I passed was content or not with his or her life, can one really find pure happiness, etc. and then I started checking out people's calves. I really want better calves. I don't know if my frame will ever allow me to have hot calves, no matter how many toe risers I do. I'll do some research on workouts and post it next. Here's the Al Hibbler song. He sounds a bit Australian in the chorus but he's not. And Ray Charles tried to kill him once:



I set my alarm for 6:00am this morning to run before work because I am going out straight from work but it was completely dark outside. I snoozed it until 6:30 but it was still dark. Now it's 7:00am and light but I don't have time to run. This may be tricky - I didn't really pay attention to the sunrise times before. I may not be able to run today.

I am a little stiff this morning but I also do not stretch. I hear some sports people say you should not stretch and some say you must. I found 2 interesting articles on stretching before, after or during running and will post that either while at work or tomorrow if I don't get a chance to run today.