How do they do it?

I am back!  Back, but taking things very carefully this first week.  Yes, I was released to work and to walk – at least gently while I still heal.  A big THANK YOU to all who expressed concern and sent personal messages of encouragement!

In case you didn’t read my post two weeks ago, the point I made was that one mile is a long, long distance.  Some days it seems longer than others, but I am told that is normal.  Now that I am walking 3.1 miles on a regular basis, the first two don’t seem that bad, but (oh my gosh), that third one is horrible! 

I talked to my friend, the runner, about this and he said that when he is running a marathon (26.2 miles), within the first five miles, he is in pain.  He said that he can’t think about how many more he has to run before finishing; he just thinks about the next step.  What great advice: think only about the next step.  One step builds upon the last and before I know it, I am finished my walk for the day.  This crazy person also told me he ran the last four miles of a race with a rock in his shoe, not wanting to stop to remove it for fear of losing time.  He ended with a bloody foot!  Maybe I shouldn’t heed his advice?

Because I am now walking the entire 5k four days a week, I am beginning to think about jogging some of it.  Just thinking about it, mind you.  I have watched as runners of various ages glide past me on the trail each evening.  They seem to just float over the ground, barely touching it with their feet, all the while propelling forward with minimal effort.  There is no pounding, bouncing or high impact in their movement.  It appears almost like a delicate dance as they float by me, soon disappearing out of sight.  During times when I have tried my 20 steps of jogging, it feels like a wrecking ball with my feet hitting the ground and the rest of my body parts bouncing and absorbing the impact.  You would think that the impact of a foot on the ground would cause the lower extremity to be jolted; in my case, it vibrates all the way up to my head making my eyebrows bounce and my hair hurt.  I guess I should wait for the actual “training” to begin before trying that again.  They are probably going to teach us how to glide effortlessly and skim the ground like the others I have witnessed.  How do they do that? 

Like Kevin, I listen to music while I walk and I read that the tempo of the music determines a person’s stride.  If I fill my playlist with songs that have a faster tempo, it might inspire me to try that jogging thing again or at least improve on my snail-like walking time.  Sorry, but that Army cadence that Kevin recommended does nothing for me.  So, I am asking my readers for suggestions.  I like many styles of music (except Rap of course – that isn’t real music anyway).    To give you a clue as to the genre I like, a few of the tunes on my playlist right now include “Just Give Me a Reason”, “Too Close”,  “ Gone, Gone, Gone”,  “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger”, “Try”, “Some Nights” and “Change”.   Please send me some suggestions for faster tempo songs.  Onward!!

- Patty Wright