Post-Flu Trudging; Inspiration

I've run four times during the past week and feel pretty good . . . now. Last Monday was the first run since the flu (I had a cough that hung around for another week or so), and I felt like I was rumbling/trudging/weaving/gasping my way through the waddle. Now, I'm back to where I left off pre-flu, at two minutes walking and eight minutes running, maybe not quite as fast.

I may not be a good runner, but I look kind of like a runner, at least a big runner . . . long and sort of lean with a pretty fluid motion on the treadmill. Last night, I was running next to a lady who was just beginning an exercise program; and if I guessed, I'd say she was about 5'4" and around 250 pounds.

I was pretty impressed when she cranked up her treadmill to run for a short while, then slowed back to walk, then cranked it back up again, then returned to walking. I don't think that was her plan; I just think she felt like running.

Inspiration sometimes comes in odd forms, and I am truly inspired by women like her. I see them a lot at the Y, and I have to ask myself, somebody who looks like a runner, although a big runner: How do these ladies, who are at a stage where they have minimal physical strengths and abilities, keep pushing themselves; while I whine and quit when a little sweat builds up or I get bored on the treadmill?

Guilt is a powerful motivator.

Best of luck, lady-I-ran-next-to.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

While my wife and I are watching the Super Bowl, my younger daughter is looking at the newspaper and sees something about Cowtown. She asks if I'm running in Cowtown, and I tell her that the flu has really gotten in the way of my training. She looks at the Cowtown date in the newspaper and then at me, and says, 'You have 20 days.' Hmmmm?

What's a Runner to Do?

I've missed a couple of weeks of running now. Last week, I was feeling way to heavy, mostly as a result of a overeating and a busy schedule with not enough time to work out. This week, I have the flu and, in the words best said with a thick Texas accent, I'm feeling puny.

The Cowtown 5K is February 23, and I'd better get back to pounding the pavement . . . or treadmill.

Unless, of course, I can think of another excuse to convince myself not to run . . . my wife is right. I am SO easy.