I really like to run. Or at least, I used to. During business school, Bill and I took up jogging together 3 or 4 times a week. We went all over the place: around our ‘hood, around Buffalo Bayou, up and down the stairs at Rice stadium… By 2004, we even got pretty fit. It was awesome.
But in late 2007, Bill ganked his knee and tore the meniscus. No more running for Bill. Then in June 2008, my spine doctor looked at MRI images of the herniated disc in my back and told me to “compensate” to delay making the disc worse. No more running for Bob, either.
Two years later, after physical therapy, learning which postures to avoid, and more exercise, my back is merely a daily annoyance rather than a chronic pain. Thank goodness! But running has remained an elusive goal. I admit that I feel frankly envious when I read about Elizabeth running around Decatur, or Stubbie running in Millenium Park, or T triathloning.
Daily exercise is essential to feeling good, and for two years, nearly all of my exercise has been within the safe confines of the gym. The upside is if I start to hurt, I can stop immediately. The downside is boredom: I am bored, bored, bored with the gym. But boredom is an easy problem compared to where I started, so I mostly just suck it up and go anyway.
Recently, my annual physical revealed that I’m insufficient (not quite deficient) for vitamin D. Being lactose intolerant, I don’t get enough dairy. And apparently, between working indoors and exercising indoors, I don’t get much sunlight, either. One of those things I can fix: I need to get out more.
So with some trepidation, I am resuming outdoor exercise, mostly around Buffalo Bayou. I’ve even tried a few snippets of jogging (because walking can be damned boring, too). In the process, I’m delighted to rediscover what a multi-sensory experience exercising outdoors can be:
- the heat and sweat of working out in ~95°F weather,
- the glint of sunlight off surface ripples of the bayou,
- the strain of tiny muscles in my feet and ankles no longer accustomed to covering uneven terrain,
- the sweet smell of blossoms in the grove of magnolia trees, and
- the twitter of thousands of bats blanketing the overhead joints under the Waugh Drive Bridge.
Best of all, there’s the refreshing coolness of spray from the Wortham Dandelion fountain for cooling off afterward. I remain a little nervous that my back will yet make my freedom short-lived, but so far so good. I am not missing the gym. And I may run again yet.