Well, here it is: 2007. I remember my first run of 2006. It was a pretty glorious run in New York's Central Park. I had a relatively late New Year's Eve there, but wanted to start the new year fresh. I was fortunate enough to stay around the Gramercy area of town - 26th and Lexington Avenues. I ran from there up to Central Park, did the big loop, and returned. I think it was close to 10 miles. It was a fresh start for 2006.
I wasn't able to run on the first day of 2007. I was traveling around Africa and I spent New Year's on a slow ferry between the island of Zanzibar and the mainland city, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. From there I caught a bus to the small town of Moshi to meet my friends to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. We spent January 2nd through the 7th on the mountain. I spent the next few days on a Safari in Ngorongoro Crater and the plains of the Serengeti, all without running.
I expected my first run of the year to be Saturday, January 13th, but I managed to sneak one in with my friend Victoria on Thursday the 11th in Rwanda. Her and her husband, Matthew, live there and that's where I based my Africa trip out of. I wasn't expecting to run that day, but Victoria was up for it and I really knew that it would make me feel better. Rwanda sits at around 5,000 feet. That's as high as Denver, Colorado. The air is a tad thinner there, which can make breathing while exerting oneself somewhat of a challenge. Luckily both of us were in the mood for a very slow run. It's also quite hilly, but we found a route that took us up a few steep grades and then onto some flat streets atop the hill. All in all it was a good way to start 2007.
I flew home all night Friday and arrived Saturday morning. It's now Monday, January 15th, Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday Holiday. I've been struggling to catch up on sleep and transition back into my life here at home. However, I have managed to sneak in three runs.
None of the runs has been exceptionally great. I ran Saturday afternoon around 2pm. It was a short 4-mile loop that I use quite often. Africa is seven hours ahead so my "body time" felt as if it was around 9pm. On top of that, I'd traveled from around 10am "body time" until 1pm (our plane landed at 6am in DC) without much sleep or relaxation. Nevertheless, it felt good to get my first run of the year in DC under my belt.
Coming back from areas where the clocks are ahead (i.e. Europe, the Middle East, Africa) has always seen me suffer great amounts of jet lag. I really hate it and don't really know what to do. I've tried to combat it with all kinds of different things. This time I did a good job of napping on Saturday which enabled me to stay up until a very reasonable hour - 11pm. I went to bed but didn't sleep well and by 5am my body refused to allow me to sleep more.
The sun isn't rising here until almost 7:30am and therefore the first signs of light didn't appear until around 7am Sunday morning. I decided that I should head out for a run around then. Though I wasn't sure of the distance I knew I'd be able to log an hour by heading out of my house, down to the National Mall and Capital and then back up 14th Street. The run dind't feel bad, but it didn't feel great, either. I averaged over 8 minutes per mile, but was actually fine with that. I have no need to attempt to compete against anyone or myself with these first runs of the year.
The one thing that was interesting about the run to me was how little things have really changed in the month I've been away. I used to return from tours when I was working with bands and construction seemed to progress with leaps and bounds. Now, though some buildings had made obvious progress, the visible progress wasn't as prevalent as I would have expected. Though most people don't run off for a month of vacation like I was capable of doing this holiday season, I suspect that some of the developers and construction workers spent a bit of the time I was gone relaxing a bit on their own.
The run itself didn't wear it me out, but did contribute to my overall feelings Sunday. I was tired and couldn't motivate myself to do much. I did manage to get about an hour's nap in on the couch, which made me feel better. In an attempt to combat the depression which always settles in when I return from a lengthy trip I organized a get together at a local bar last night in order to share stories and see familiar faces. My running buddy Chris made the trip up from North Carolina and there were quite a few others who were present. We drank a fair amount, yet within reason, and I was asleep by almost 1am.
Unfortunately, another severe bout of insomnia presented itself to me throughout the night. I awoke to use the restroom multiple times during the night and around 4:30am I awoke for good. Try as I might, I was completely unable to put my mind at ease and return to sleep. This was a condition that I battled with before I left. I am not sure if this is a continuation (most of the effects completely dissipated while traveling) or just a natural bout with jet lag, but it's affecting me pretty severly.
I hadn't planned on running today. The almost 7.5 miles I put in yesterday combined with the 4 from Saturday left my legs feeling a bit sore and tired. However, I've come to realize that running for me is just as much mental as it is physical. The release of endorphins or whatever physical affect it has on my body is so positive that I will probably force myself to run almost every single day. Today I ran and now I'm benefitting from that release. I still feel pretty terrible, but that's a combination of the alcohol and less than four hours of sleep.
The run today was almost 6 miles and I averaged just over an 8:15 pace. By the time I'd put in 3 miles my legs were hurting a fair amount. I was surely sore as can be. However, we've been having a very mild winter in DC thus far (supposedly there were many days in the 70s during my month long trip to Africa) and the 55 degree temperatures combined with the rise of the sun made for an enjoyable time outside, even if the run itself wasn't exactly what I wanted.
So, that begins 2007. I am not sure exactly what my plans for running are going to be. My buddy Chris is running the Virginia Beach half marathon in March and planning to train for a full marathon in either April or May. I've done my marathons in the fall the past two years and am not sure if I will break that cycle. However, as I've realized that running benefits my body and my mind, and I plan on doing it quite frequently, I may just decided to pick a race and run it. Hopefully I'll be able to continue to write interesting things about it.
I wasn't able to run on the first day of 2007. I was traveling around Africa and I spent New Year's on a slow ferry between the island of Zanzibar and the mainland city, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. From there I caught a bus to the small town of Moshi to meet my friends to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. We spent January 2nd through the 7th on the mountain. I spent the next few days on a Safari in Ngorongoro Crater and the plains of the Serengeti, all without running.
I expected my first run of the year to be Saturday, January 13th, but I managed to sneak one in with my friend Victoria on Thursday the 11th in Rwanda. Her and her husband, Matthew, live there and that's where I based my Africa trip out of. I wasn't expecting to run that day, but Victoria was up for it and I really knew that it would make me feel better. Rwanda sits at around 5,000 feet. That's as high as Denver, Colorado. The air is a tad thinner there, which can make breathing while exerting oneself somewhat of a challenge. Luckily both of us were in the mood for a very slow run. It's also quite hilly, but we found a route that took us up a few steep grades and then onto some flat streets atop the hill. All in all it was a good way to start 2007.
I flew home all night Friday and arrived Saturday morning. It's now Monday, January 15th, Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday Holiday. I've been struggling to catch up on sleep and transition back into my life here at home. However, I have managed to sneak in three runs.
None of the runs has been exceptionally great. I ran Saturday afternoon around 2pm. It was a short 4-mile loop that I use quite often. Africa is seven hours ahead so my "body time" felt as if it was around 9pm. On top of that, I'd traveled from around 10am "body time" until 1pm (our plane landed at 6am in DC) without much sleep or relaxation. Nevertheless, it felt good to get my first run of the year in DC under my belt.
Coming back from areas where the clocks are ahead (i.e. Europe, the Middle East, Africa) has always seen me suffer great amounts of jet lag. I really hate it and don't really know what to do. I've tried to combat it with all kinds of different things. This time I did a good job of napping on Saturday which enabled me to stay up until a very reasonable hour - 11pm. I went to bed but didn't sleep well and by 5am my body refused to allow me to sleep more.
The sun isn't rising here until almost 7:30am and therefore the first signs of light didn't appear until around 7am Sunday morning. I decided that I should head out for a run around then. Though I wasn't sure of the distance I knew I'd be able to log an hour by heading out of my house, down to the National Mall and Capital and then back up 14th Street. The run dind't feel bad, but it didn't feel great, either. I averaged over 8 minutes per mile, but was actually fine with that. I have no need to attempt to compete against anyone or myself with these first runs of the year.
The one thing that was interesting about the run to me was how little things have really changed in the month I've been away. I used to return from tours when I was working with bands and construction seemed to progress with leaps and bounds. Now, though some buildings had made obvious progress, the visible progress wasn't as prevalent as I would have expected. Though most people don't run off for a month of vacation like I was capable of doing this holiday season, I suspect that some of the developers and construction workers spent a bit of the time I was gone relaxing a bit on their own.
The run itself didn't wear it me out, but did contribute to my overall feelings Sunday. I was tired and couldn't motivate myself to do much. I did manage to get about an hour's nap in on the couch, which made me feel better. In an attempt to combat the depression which always settles in when I return from a lengthy trip I organized a get together at a local bar last night in order to share stories and see familiar faces. My running buddy Chris made the trip up from North Carolina and there were quite a few others who were present. We drank a fair amount, yet within reason, and I was asleep by almost 1am.
Unfortunately, another severe bout of insomnia presented itself to me throughout the night. I awoke to use the restroom multiple times during the night and around 4:30am I awoke for good. Try as I might, I was completely unable to put my mind at ease and return to sleep. This was a condition that I battled with before I left. I am not sure if this is a continuation (most of the effects completely dissipated while traveling) or just a natural bout with jet lag, but it's affecting me pretty severly.
I hadn't planned on running today. The almost 7.5 miles I put in yesterday combined with the 4 from Saturday left my legs feeling a bit sore and tired. However, I've come to realize that running for me is just as much mental as it is physical. The release of endorphins or whatever physical affect it has on my body is so positive that I will probably force myself to run almost every single day. Today I ran and now I'm benefitting from that release. I still feel pretty terrible, but that's a combination of the alcohol and less than four hours of sleep.
The run today was almost 6 miles and I averaged just over an 8:15 pace. By the time I'd put in 3 miles my legs were hurting a fair amount. I was surely sore as can be. However, we've been having a very mild winter in DC thus far (supposedly there were many days in the 70s during my month long trip to Africa) and the 55 degree temperatures combined with the rise of the sun made for an enjoyable time outside, even if the run itself wasn't exactly what I wanted.
So, that begins 2007. I am not sure exactly what my plans for running are going to be. My buddy Chris is running the Virginia Beach half marathon in March and planning to train for a full marathon in either April or May. I've done my marathons in the fall the past two years and am not sure if I will break that cycle. However, as I've realized that running benefits my body and my mind, and I plan on doing it quite frequently, I may just decided to pick a race and run it. Hopefully I'll be able to continue to write interesting things about it.
posted by Mike Mowery at 8:26 AM
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