No Pain, No Gain

It had been about 6 days since I went on a jog. As usual, I sat in my chair and came up with about 43 reasons why I shouldn't jog. I'm too busy. I have too much to do today. I might miss something important somewhere else... a phone call perhaps. Maybe my apartment building will suddenly catch fire... who will be there to put it out?? But in the end I realized that for my own sake, I should go. So, I grabbed my keys, strapped my iPod to my left arm, and made a determined trip down the stairs to the street. The beginning part of a jog is never that bad. It's kind of exhilarating, actually. The music starts off at a good beat, I am still full of life, full of energy, full of optimism.

Man, how those feelings quickly fade. About 2 minutes and 20 seconds into the jog, my legs feel like they're made of lead. When I try to breathe, I feel like a fish out of water. Why aren't my lungs functioning properly? Is this NORMAL?? How come everyone else around me doesn't try to help me?!? Can't they see that I'm in PAIN??!!!!

So I slow my pace a bit. That is how I have been jogging lately: for time, not distance or speed. I want to jog for as long as possible, just to keep my heart rate up for as long as possible, even if it's not the fastest I can get it to. And today, I pushed my record a bit further. But I'll tell you what my time was at the end, otherwise you'll know how the story goes and will probably stop reading right now. So as I made my way down the path, past the river, and along the Maschsee (Masch Lake), some girl decided she would pass me. Okay fine, I can handle the people on bicycles passing me. But a fellow jogger? Please... it's already hard enough to even get myself out there. Why does she need to dishearten me by going by me... and at about double the speed I'm doing...??? So I just shouted after her, "Yeah?! Well, I'm going for TIME, not DISTANCE or SPEED!!" Feeling better after clarifying everything, I put a smile back on my face (which, while jogging, resembles more of an awkward smirk) and continued along. Before I knew it, I had been passed by at least 3 or 4 more people. I knew that perhaps jogging wasn't my greatest strength when I was passed by a woman who was seriously no younger than 83 years old. Well, good for you Grandma, but can't you see how you're sucking the motivation out of me? Clearly no one else in Hannover runs for time. However, I am proud to say that I was able to lap at least 20 people throughout the jog. I don't need to mention that they were jogging in the opposite direction, do I? It felt good passing them so quickly. It's like one minute they were in front of me, and then in the blink of an eye.... gone!

I was reminded of other times, in high school or in college, when I was not always the one at the front of the running line (... fine, I was the last one at the back). I remember telling everyone around me that I really just run to make everyone else feel better about themselves. I mean, someone has to be last. So I choose to bear that burden, just so my fellow runners can be encouraged and know that they are doing a better job than at least one other person. During today's jog, I realized that I have the gift of reaching out to people of all ages. Not only do I encourage the young, but also those who would otherwise be almost on their deathbed. I take pride in my social diversity.

When I finally finished my jog, I hit the pause button on my iPod to stop the stopwatch. How long, you might ask? I had beat my last record by 30 seconds!! So today's final time was 44 minutes. Sweeeeet. THAT, my friends, is how you jog for time. Given the pace I was going, I probably jogged at least a good half-mile. So I headed up the stairs again, and even skipped over a stair or two... you know, just to throw in a little extra cardio work... and got to my room. Sweaty and exhausted, I took my shoes and socks off, only to find that a new bubble blister had formed just under the arch of my right foot... somehow in the middle of another one that was still there from last week. I've been noticing that with these shoes lately. I've had them for 2 years, which is pretty typical for me. But the past 4 or 5 times I've gone jogging in them, I get blisters. I wonder if it's because I need new shoes, or because my feet aren't accustomed to Time Jogging... but rather the 15-minute mile Speed Jogging I used to blaze through in them before. Either way, the thought entered my head: no pain, no gain. Which I chose to translate as: the more pain, the more gain. And what is better than one blister? TWO blisters!! I obviously have gained a lot today.

So I ask you now to look at your body. Do you have any blisters? An ingrown toenail, perhaps? A scab or scratch or bruise or even a broken rib? Well... you obviously gained something for going through such pain. Why else would we experience pain? Surely not because pain is a series of nerve endings sending signals to one another until they reach the brain and register in our minds as being pain. No, that doesn't make sense. It must be because we gained something in the process. Today, I gained losing 44 minutes of my life that I will never be able to get back. What a GREAT feeling. I'll trade 44 minutes of my life for 2 blisters any day.

And just for fun, in case you want to youtube the songs or Limewire them or any other internet site that has been turned into a verb... here is my current jogging mix, which changes often:

Muse - Sunburn
Jay-Z featuring Linkin Park - Encore
Justin Timberlake - What Goes Around Comes Around
The Kooks - Naive
2raumwohnung - Ich und Elaine
Jay-Z featuring Beyonce - Me and My Girlfriend
Feist - Mushaboom
The Kooks - She Moves in Her Own Way
Green Day - Holiday
U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
The Offspring - The Kids Aren't Alright
Eminem - Lose Yourself
Incubus - Wish You Were Here
Cheryl Lynn - Got to Be Real

Good, fast beats. I'm looking to weed out some of them, but need them on there till I find others to replace them with. I'm open to suggestions, providing the beat is fast enough to keep me going. Just to give you a guide, I run at about 4 steps per minute. Do something for your heart today.