The feeling of freedom in running

I loved the feeling of freedom in running, the fresh air, the feeling that the only person I'm competing with is me. -Wilma Rudolph

With some unexpected snow (unexpected for someone who doesn't watch the weather the day before), on Sunday and Monday, I ended up staying indoors for the rest of the week. The snow had melted a foot-wide path by Thursday, but at that point I was caught up in activities at the gym. I bypassed any outdoor runs. My cardio work consisted mainly of 10-15 minutes interval workouts on the stationary bike, stairclimber or treadmill. I keep my strength training at quick pace with little to no rest, keep my heart rate up. None of this gets me that extra mile, of course. There are few ways to train for a run other than simply running.

With the runless week behind me, I knew that the weekend would be ripe for catching up. I saw that it was going to be sunny and warm all weekend - it reached nearly 60F on Saturday! Now Saturday turned into an Errand Run. An Errand Run is a type of Destination Run where the destination involves shopping or completing what might otherwise be a tedious chore in an inconvenient location. I try to multitask by making the commute more interesting by running there, which is ironically faster than taking a bus or train.

The most common Errand Run is a Grocery Run - especially now that I'm on a tight budget where grocery shopping is pretty much my only shopping. If I'm going for speedwork, then I'll carry my recycled shopping bags under an arm. If its a longer run, then I'll shame my activist hippy-liberal neighborhood and go for doubled plastic at the supermarket.

Saturday had a twofold purpose. I discovered the day before that I had to complete a warrenty exchange out at Cambridgeside before the weekend was up. I had already designated Sunday for my 10-mile jaunt along the Bikeway, so Saturday was my best bet. Now Cambridgeside is approximately 3 miles from my house. Not much of an effort. So this is where I get onto MapMyRun.com and come out with some sort of wildly roundabout route to get there in order to extend my mileage. I managed to push it to around 5 1/2 with a few inclines. It wasn't bad, at all.

There weren't too many runners out along my path, although much of it was urban residential - sidewalk work, keeping it mainly to pavement over cement where possible. Near the start, I saw a couple of athletic types out by the Mystic River Reservation. The young man was going at quite a clip, easily jogging past me and the girl he exchanged words with (who had settled into a walk). It's interesting because when someone like that flies past me, I'm never intimidated, jealous or even competitive. I don't pick up my pace or feel bad for trudging along. I realized early on that you can't judge a runner by the pace at which they pass you. You don't know what mile he's on. You don't know what his training is like. You don't know how long he's been running for. You don't know the purpose of this particular run. It's like comparing apples and oranges. The only person you should ever be in competition with is yourself. In that, I find freedom and opportunity to achieve every goal that I set for myself.

Now along the river, there is a wooden tower with winding stairs the lead to a platform overlooking Somerville. The young man easily hopped up the flights of stairs to the top and back down again. At that point, just barely crossing the 1-mile threshold myself, such a feat seemed heroic in proportion. But now that the idea of it is in my head, I don't think I can jog out there this week without climbing it mid-run myself. It seems like the perfect challenge, change of pace, for 45-min morning jog.

Anyway, I complete the route feeling good. I probably could have and should have gone along for another mile. But I had an errand to run, followed by grocery shopping.