Week 4 saw an increase in the issue with my calf. As I run one calf becomes increasingly tight and slightly achy. Phil tells me this is an incredibly common problem for new runners (I suspect this may be particularly true when one is of a certain age… though he didn’t say that, bless him). He has prescribed some strengthening exercises, as well as stretching and rolling.
With the running increments increasing to 5 minutes I am beginning to find it harder fitness-wise but I am also having moments where I feel like I hit a comfortable groove. One day I had to run in the afternoon (I usually go in the morning) and that was kind of dreadful! I hauled myself around the oval feeling positively ungainly. Looks like mornings might be my time!
Mood is fast turning into one of my profound motivators. On one of my run days I lay in bed for 20 minutes grumbling and toying with the idea of postponing until the next day. However, thinking about the benefits to my mood I dragged myself out of bed and laced up. It was a beautiful Spring day (a fact that had been obscured by my crankiness) and of course my mood improved significantly. I had been ruminating on some niggling worries but these shrank back down to a reasonable size by time by the time I got back home.
Thinking about the importance of enjoying the process of exercise, I wondered: do I enjoy high-intensity exercise, or could I get the same positive results from other, lower impact and less taxing movement? I came to the conclusion I do like the feeling of working hard, it’s not easy but I definitely feel more alive when I move in that way on a regular basis. Plus it makes incidental exercise more enjoyable. Movement begets movement!
