Here We Come Running Here We Coming Running Again
I don't know if I'd describe myself every bit a runner. I feel the noun has too many athletic connotations. Plus, I'chiliad a late bloomer. I started running in my early thirties merely didn't get serious until later. I did my first half marathon at 36 and found it incredibly self-fulfilling but also excruciatingly agonizing at times. While training for a half marathon is a very significant time commitment, running the actual 13.i miles is just every bit hard. And yet I've kept running one half marathon per year always since that first race, treating it as a yearly checkup and get-dorsum-in-shape outcome.
Running tends to have a soothing consequence on me. On a regular week, I'd have at least a couple or three runs of 3-4 miles each. On a preparation week, at least one of the runs would demand to be longer equally I incrementally increased my distance to exist able to sustain the 13.1 on race twenty-four hour period.
That was until COVID-19 striking and upended my whole running regimen, of class.
The workout-tracking app Strava released its customary "Yr in Sport" report at the end of 2020, compiling data from 73 one thousand thousand athletes effectually the world. It showed some of the challenges of "safely being active during a global pandemic" but also an overall increase in physical activity — alone. Strava grew by about 2 million new athletes each calendar month terminal year. "3x every bit many marathons were run solitary in 2020 compared to 2019. In the peak month (April 2020), 76% of marathons were run solo, a 10x increase over April 2019," the report says, pointing out this data to reveal an increase in alone exercise along with the cancelations of organized marathon races.
How did people practise it? There were total weeks in April, May, September and October of last year when I didn't run a single mile. I didn't do any concrete activity other than walking, really — let alone find the stamina to train or run for a long-distance race. According to my Strava statistics, I ran a total of 451.ii miles in 2018. In 2019 it was 319.8 miles, but I had started a new exercise routine that incorporated more than Pilates and yoga, dedicating less fourth dimension to running every bit a whole. In 2020 I ran a paltry 262.2 miles. That was non by design.
Runner's High Is Real
I always feel better after a run. Hit the pavement has almost a meditative effect on me. Not only is runner's high real, only the endorphin rush it causes can besides be quite compelling, and yous become used to it. I feel the demand to go for a run after a few sedentary days. If I see someone running and I'm not doing information technology, I get sort of jealous.
I incorporated running effectually my working routine and fifty-fifty around my resting routine. I never travel without my running gear. Even though I'k a especially boring runner while jetlagged, I love running while I'thousand traveling. I'll never forget the ten miles my husband and I ran in London in 2017 because our trip there took identify in the middle of training for the San Francisco one-half marathon a few weeks later. Did I want to but get back to the hotel and have breakfast for the total 10 miles? Very much so. Did I love the experience of running along the Thames Due south Banking concern and through several parks in London that way? Absolutely.
But the pandemic changed everything. At first, I merely didn't feel safe venturing out of the house. Later on, getting into the mental land required to piece of work out was difficult. I didn't feel like running when the country erupted in a series of protests confronting racial injustice. I felt it was a time more fitting for reflection and learning. I didn't feel like running when California started burning in September (the air quality didn't make it possible for many weeks, either) or when I lost my job in Oct. Moving to a new place also didn't make me want to lace my shoes and become for a run. I guess first I'd have had to locate the unlabeled box where I'd put the shoes.
The Irksome Reality of Indoor Running
With the prospect of a slightly brighter 2021 and a new job, I decided to get moving again. I've likewise learned a few lessons near running during pandemic times forth the manner.
I've been avoiding some of my favorite running spots because they are besides crowded. Running with a mask on the whole time is more than I can handle. The CDC notes that people practicing high-intensity sports may have difficulty breathing while wearing a mask and recommends increasing distance. So choosing less-trafficked streets or paths allows me to pull downward the vitrify if there's no one in sight.
I'thou also all for the "less is more" saying. So even if I end up running just the bare minimum of 3 miles or less, that's always better than not running at all. No judgment.
And yes, sadly, I had to resign myself to investing in a treadmill and becoming an indoor runner. I all the same remember it's dull. But 25 minutes of running in identify are better than none at all. Plus, I've noticed if I choose a virtual run of a trainer running on a beach, the whole experience tends to be a chip less irksome. It even so pales in comparison to the redwood forest runs I used to have in Humboldt County every leap, but it'south better than nothing.
Back in 2019, I did my best time ever in a half marathon. I took information technology every bit a expert omen because I had just turned 40. I was prepare to suspension more personal records in 2020. But other than the number of episodes of Schitt'south Creek I could watch in i sitting, there were no personal records to achieve in 2020.
For 2021 my main goal is to but stay active and avoid as much as possible those weeks in which I don't exercise at all. I retrieve as far as pandemic goals go, that's ambitious enough.
At present, forgive me for leaving. I need to become make my 2021 Strava statistics a fleck less lamentable than the ones from concluding year.
Resources Links:
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/the-truth-behind-runners-high-and-other-mental-benefits-of-running
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/playing-sports.html
Source: https://www.symptomfind.com/fitness-exercise/running-pandemic-times?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740013%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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