So why run at all?

I cannot believe it is Thursday already.  Gorgeous day on tap around here as well.  I took a rest day for the most part today.  I have put 200 miles on my bike since June 1st.  It’s making lifting hard to do.

Breakfast was a cooler weather classic – pumpkin cream of wheat!

Mornings in the 50s will make you want the warm stuff.  This was topped with some honey and toasted pecans.  Tasty!

So busy with work.  I think they are close to losing my primary account because it has been so behind.  I really hope not as I love this account and would have to be placed on another one – and who knows if I could be as productive.  I can only do as much as I can and hope some other people step up to the plate like they have been asking.  It does make it a little stressful.

That did make the morning go fast and I had a porch lunch and talked with John for the first time of the day (I was already working when he got up).

Don’t you love these outdoor lunches?  I would eat dinner out here, except the sun is blazing on the porch at that time of day thanks to the city cutting down our big tree when they redid the road.

So, I thought I would talk a little more about running.  I keep going back and forth as to whether I should continue to pursue it or not.  Unless you are a new reader, you know that my back has caused leg problems for running.  For a while, I thought I could run again and kind of had my mojo back, but then the pain became worse.  So I stopped.

For me, running was something that was a *huge* obstacle for me.  It was that one thing I could never do as an overweight child/adult and running always symbolized fitness and health.  I thought if I could conquer that giant mountain it would kind of close that old “fat book” so to speak.  So I trained.  And I started running 5K races.  And I began running some longer distances (the longest being 8 miles). I did a triathlon and duathlon.  I was running!  I could run!

Then I herniated the disk in my back and just being able to walk without pain again was enough let alone running.  I never was quite the same again after that.

It is almost like admitting defeat to not run.  Like I am less of an athlete.  Like I have let something get the best of me – which is probably the worst part of it.  That I am somehow taking the easy way out by not pushing through and doing it anyway.  I know that isn’t true.  I know that pushing through pain and doing something despite injury is not what you are supposed to do, and yet the thought is there.

Not sure if any of that makes sense or not.  It is so very hard to close a book on something permanently.

Let’s move on to less serious stuff, shall we?  Like latte time!  This is an iced almond milk latte with some chocolate chips.

Pixie is snoring away in the background there.

I had a real craving for pizza for dinner, but John suggested a froyo ride, which also sounded good to me on a hot day!  So, I just did my old go-to dinner of an omelet.

Broccoli outside of it tonight, feta cheese tucked inside.

It was a very nice night for a ride.

I snuck John into my yogurt picture 😈  My yogurt was honey almond flavor.  No topping tonight since it wasn’t a long ride and I had the chocolate earlier in the day.  One of the things I have to take in account when I am in weight loss mode.

And guess what?  No flat tire!  Yay!  We have to buy new tubes before our next long ride.  We have bought 5 tubes and gone through them all!  I am shopping for a new tire as well, but that might have to wait for next paycheck.

So much for a real rest day, but it was only 12 miles and we weren’t biking too fast.  Guess that is 212 miles this month so far 😀

26 thoughts on “So why run at all?

  1. Alissa

    I can understand how you would feel about the running issue but you don’t need to feel like that at all. You are so active! Biking is for you and you are GREAT at it. You don’t want to injure yourself further just to try to push through something.

  2. Shelley B

    It IS hard to close the door on something that you worked hard to be able to do. We still fight our inner fat person, even though on the outside, we look normal.

  3. Susan

    I used to think running was the pinnacle of fitness, until I started training and getting clients who were permanently injured as a result of running. It was really sad, and opened my eyes to the fact that running isn’t all that good for you. Or at least, running marathons isn’t. There’s so much more to fitness!

  4. dawn

    I do get it about the running. I know when I had my gall bladder out I lost some ability with weight lifting (couldn’t lift as much) but I just started doing other things and just resigned myself that I would lift lighter. You are still an athlete and like Alissa said you are great at biking it really is your thing. I say do what you love not what you think you should.

  5. debby

    I know what you mean. When I read other blogs, and know there are runners and other athletes who are always dealing with some sort of stress injury, I wonder if I am just being a weenie. But every single time I run just a little bit, I pay for it for a long time afterwards. Its disappointing to me, that I am not ever going to be able to say I’m a runner. “I’m a walker” just doesn’t have the same ring to it…

  6. Amy

    I know how you feel – I have a similar issue with weightlifting and neck/shoulder pain. I have to be really careful and sometimes it is discouraging. I also have to watch my running distances – if I do too much I get that hip pain. But if we can find an exercise we can do pain free, then that is just as good, right? My GP has MS and she told me last week the only thing she can do is swim, and it is the only moment in her day when she is pain free. And then i realize just how lucky I am to be able to do all the things I can do, despite the modifications I have to make for my body.

  7. MB

    I wish I could be a runner but keep getting sidelined. I still haven’t even been able to finish the C25K. You love biking so you should bike. We shouldn’t try to force ourselves to be something we’re not. Like the Life is Good motto says “Do what you like, like what you do.”

  8. Fran

    Lori if anyone is an athlete, it’s you. The miles you ride on your bike: I couldn’t do that. When I had my health check earlier this year I had to bike on an indoor bike for my heart rate and it sucked. The doctor told me that most people either are a runner or a biker and I kind of believe that’s true. Sure some people do both but when I look at me for example you are more the biker and I’m more the runner and that’s okay because it makes us both athletes only at different sports.

    Don’t feel defeated if you give up running because it’s not a defeat at all.

    1. Lori Post author

      I am a biker, that is for sure. I just don’t like not being able to do something that I once could, even if it wasn’t my favorite thing to do.

  9. Helen

    Even though I’m a runner I’ll say it… running is “punishment” in some sports. Like at Muay Thai if the class gets too rowdy and isn’t paying attention to the Sensei, they stop the class, make everyone do pushups and then run laps around the room 😀

    But the thing is Lori, you are MOST DEFINITELY an athlete, even if you never run another step in your life!

  10. Roz

    Hi Lori. I SOOOO see you as an athlete! Your biking and your lifting is motivating and inspirational for us all! Running Schmunning…you sure don’t need that to be the complete picture! Have a great day!!!

  11. kalli

    lori, so true about running! i feel your pain literally. you are right…thank goodness we have biking! love your lunch…..is that tuna salad? how did you make it?

  12. Lisa

    I understand where you are coming from. Before I got injured I loved running and felt invincible. I never suffered from injuries. I was running a lot. I ran Hood to Coast. It was fantastic. Then I got injured. It was a REALLY long road to recovery. I *think* I am back to where I was pre-injury but now I’m too scared to push myself for fear of getting injured again. 🙁

    1. Lori Post author

      I just don’t want trying to run to mess up my other stuff like biking and lifting. that is my biggest fear.

  13. Biz

    With all the biking you do – you are definitely an athlete in my book – I don’t think it matters if you can’t run.

    I wish I could bike in our neighborhood to places, but its a pretty busy road – I could justify eating the froyo if I could bike there!

    Happy Friday!

    1. Lori Post author

      I am much more used to riding in traffic now, although I would prefer not LOL! Nothing gets in the way of my yogurt or cupcakes, though 😀

  14. Jody - Fit at 53

    I, I am so mad cause I wrote this long comment & lost it – and being a slow typist – well, it took me half the day to write it! 😉

    I will have to be brief now.. better for you! 😉

    Course I LOVE your porch pics & want to be there and absolutely LOVE LOVE the Pixie pic!!!!

    On running, I never thought of it as symbolizing fitness & health. Being a gym person, it was the lesser of all evils for cardio in the gym for me. Love the weights but cardio – not so much. 😉

    Reading about your bike rides – to me – that seems like something I could never do & I am in awe that you do that! You need to be proud of those accomplishments – I know you are Lori – but many of us can never see ourselves doing what you do – YOU ROCK!

    Believe it or not, this is the short version of my comment!

  15. joanne

    First I have to say that John seriously GLOWS in that shirt. I love it!
    Second (of course you just know I have to comment on your running discussion), not everyone who is fit and healthy runs. We all have our preferences in life and you are SO fortunate to have the endurance to cycle all the miles that you do. You’re good at it. You like it.
    Your body doesn’t like running. My body doesn’t like cycling and my brain doesn’t like swimming. Go figure – I’m an Aquarian! Anyway, count your blessings that you ARE healthy and you CAN cycle better and farther than most. Lori, you’re truly a motivator and a winner.
    It would be great to meet up one day and run together but that won’t happen so when we DO meet up, I’ll run, you cycle and we’ll eventually hit Panera’s for bagels! 🙂 YUM!

  16. Pubsgal

    Lori, you are a super athlete! But even more than your ability to ride far and lift heavy, I admire your consistency and positive mentality: you take it seriously and DO this stuff every day and love it! And who says those are any less athletic? I think someone like Lance Armstrong would beg to differ. 😉

    Sometimes I wonder why I still run. I started because I needed something for heart and bone health and good blood glucose levels, and hopefully weight loss, and it was the cheapest option: just a pair of shoes, patience, and time. My enthusiasm for it sort of comes and goes, but I just can’t quite give it up. Maybe because I still like doing events that involve running; there aren’t that many aquabike events around. But on the other hand, it’s good that I prefer other things, because I don’t think my body could take being exclusively a runner.

Comments are closed.