posted
In my continued pursuit to be able to see my own feet when standing up, I have taken up walking. Like, a lot of walking. Three days a week, I go out to the exercise trail at Memorial Park and do a lap around it at a pretty quick pace. I can walk the entire 3 miles of it in 55 minutes.
So, as I was on my way out there, I think to myself, "You know what, Chris? You're handling this walking thing pretty well. Why don't you try adding a little jogging to it?"
I reply to myself, "Yeah, that's all Houston needs. A bunch of little earthquakes with the epicenters under my feet."
This is followed by, "Can't you respond to one suggestion I make without the use for self-deprecating humour?"
Eventually, the weird voice in my head convinced me to do a little jogging. I decided to start slowly. I'd spend the first half mile jogging. I'd go a short distance and then stop to catch my breath. Shouldn't be too hard, right?
Wrong. As I sit here, my entire body aches. My ankles and knees throb with a pulsating pain that complements the pain in my shins very well. While I can accept that as part of the "no pain, no gain" theory on exercising, I cannot accept the other pain that jogging has given me. My arms and back hurt. My neck hurts. I have a headache coupled with intense hunger.
The next time that voice in my head suggests that I try a little jogging, I'm going to slap it silly.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Just keep up with the walking. Maybe get a membership at the gym and give the bikes a try ... they're great for burning calories.
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
Yah... shin splints suck. I remember those from my cross country days. If you've never done any running before, it's going to be hell on your knees and hips...and, well, pretty much everything else as you're finding out :0)
I hear that swimming gives as good if not better in the way of a total body workout. It's also much lighter impact.
posted
Well, I tried it too, and what I did was start walking, then gradually increase to jogging, in about a half mile to a mile. That works, and another hint is to wear really light clothing, and dont wear thing such as jewerly or watches or stuff like that. And pants without pokets, or one or two at the most. You'll be suprised how much easier it make it.
posted
Cartman, I didn't misread your comment, so no offense taken. That really is the reason I started exercising (that and to see my feet again).
Jeff, I've thought about getting a bicycle and adding that to my exercise routine. I could easily ride it to Memorial Park and back. The problem is that Houston is very bicyclist-unfriendly.
Aban, do you have any suggestions for pre-jogging stretches? I can't help but think that some of my aches may be from me not stretching out enough before I got started. I did a lot rotating and bending to loosen up the muscles in my ankles and knees, and I also did a lot of the "bend over to your toes" to get the legs muscles loose.
Red, my running outfit is a t-shirt and some shorts. It's all light and breathable material. The nice thing about that is I'm developing a tan again. No more pasty peachish-brownish-khaki skin for me!
As the day goes on, the achiness is going away. I don't think I've been this sore since the time I had to ran up seventeen flights of stairs.
[ July 12, 2002, 14:12: Message edited by: Siegfried ]
Registered: Mar 1999
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Ed BWC
Ex-Member
posted
Cut your hair.
But remember, it is always hardest the first time. Keep on trying, and it will become second nature.
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Jogging is much more dangerous than walking. I read somewhere that you're about 10 times more likely to injure yourself because of the stress of impact. When I was in college I used to do about 30 km a week but at least once a year (usually more) I managed to get an injury requiring me stop for a week or two. The biggest problem with starting any sort of exercise is the temptation to overdo it at first. Pain is your body's way of telling you not to do to much. If you get injured by overdoing it, you may find it hard to restart or may stop completely. So take it easy.
If you walk fast, you can burn as many calories as with jogging, but with much less risk of injury.
-------------------- When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
Thanks for the advice. Considering how sore my ankles are at the moment, I doubt I will be attempting jogging again in the very near future. Instead, I think I will just concentrate on walking and seeing if I can manage getting out to the trail more than three times a week.
In the meantime, I'll start pricing bicycles and seeing if there is a safe place to ride it without fear of joining the dozens of squashed squirrels I see everyday on the roads.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Ed BWC
Ex-Member
posted
A good thing for sore feet and ankles is fill a basin big enough to cover your feet with a little to chare and fill it with warm or hot water, and put in about 1-2 cups of epsom salt. Works for me.
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Notes about bicycles: Great idea, I love bicycling around here in Stockholm, it is a bike-friendly town, and you'll notice you can get pretty far pretty fast, and faster when you learn all the trails and shortcuts.
But for god's sake be careful about choosing the saddle. Regardless of what type of saddle you have, your lower pelvic bone, or what they call the bone parts involved in sitting, WILL get a bit sore the first couple of days or the first week of bicycling, if one hasn't done it in a long time. This has deterred many potential bicyclers because they don't realize it will go away amazingly fast as the skin and bones adapts.
Kind of like that nice Bene Gesserit mini-microwave oven, for cooking extremities into TV-snacks. Mind �ber matter. I was sore for about three days, then the soreness only was present for the first three minutes of a ride, then disappeared completely.
So, patience, coupled with a nice and wide saddle (instead of the standard razorblade-saddles nowadays integrated into sports-bikes) will get you where you want to go.
I also suggest a citybike or regular bike, mountain bikes may have a shitload of gears, and they look cool, but the wide and heavily studded tires (for offroad use) will substantially lower the speed on regular asphalt.
Wait a minute, that may not be that bad of a choice after all, becasue that would mean you get a better workout...
-------------------- "I'm nigh-invulnerable when I'm blasting!" Mel Gibson, X-Men
Registered: Aug 1999
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