Running – again - again?

I posted about running again last summer...did start then and went for many runs – some with a neighbor. Then it got cold, wet, snowy, slushy and well - all those things I use as excuses. Tried some treadmill running but that was short -lived as well.

So here we are in February and I’ve gotten back to running. The reason? I got a brand new pair of really neat running shoes to test.

Have you ever read Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury? I felt like that 12-year-old with his new sneakers. I remembered when I was a kid and got new sneakers. That feeling of I can do anything...run, jump, play any kind of ball...I was invincible!

Well these new shoes made me feel that way again and made me remember the book – [lost many moves ago as it’s no longer in my possession]

The first day I took dog with me and we did a slow run/jog/walk and I felt like I could go on forever...the shoes had me feel like I was capable of flying. Over the next few days, we [dog and I] added distances and speeds to our morning routine and then one day there was ice on the road.. Yup we are still having grrr winter at times :D

So what did we do? I ran faster on the icy road to see how good the traction was and it was better than other shoes I had worn this year...even though they are all the same brand.

Then yesterday we ran a long distance and we did a lot of it at a fast clip – fast for me is not as fast as for a real runner – but it was or felt like it was faster than I had ever run. In the same afternoon dog and I took a long walk – neither of us was tired..and that was a big wow – running really is a good thing to do...

An aside – on one of our first runs with these new shoes I realized that my dog and I are the same age :D – I’ve had dogs get this old but as I said in my last few posts – this is new for me....

Next I will go for a run without the dog – if I tell you it’s a male dog you might understand why it’s hard to keep up a running pace.

To be continued

Maybe It's Time to Start Running Again

I used to run - not far and not consistently. When I lived in Boston the Boston Marathon always was an incentive to start running but...that fizzled in the heat of a Boston summer or cold of a Boston winter...

Then in DC I lived near a track and ran on that with some neighbors and trained a bit with a friend who was into marathons. Back in New England I ran again but since arriving in Portland - I have not run at all - oops.. but I walk a lot :-)

So when read this today - I thought - hmmm - maybe it is time to start running again..

Regular running slows the effects of aging, according to a new study from Stanford University School of Medicine that has tracked 500 older runners for more than 20 years. Elderly runners have fewer disabilities, a longer span of active life and are half as likely as aging non runners to die early deaths, the research found.

"The study has a very pro-exercise message," said James Fries, MD, an emeritus professor of medicine at the medical school and the study's senior author. "If you had to pick one thing to make people healthier as they age, it would be aerobic exercise." The new findings will appear in the Aug. 11 issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

Full article here

Tomorrow morning - I'm going out for a run!