I Suck At Running

every friday, karen works part-time at the south shore ymca in quincy. for the past few weeks, i have decided to at least do some sort of physical activity while i wait for karen as she finishes working at the ymca. that physical activity: running.

now, i suck at running. i don't particularly enjoy running long distances. in terms of muscle fibers, my body makeup has historically leaned more toward fast twitch(ie. sprinting) than slow twitch (ie. distance). although these days, i would be happy if my muscles twitched at all. (for a quick anatomy and physiology walkthrough on muscle fibers, see my friend about.com.)

one of the things i do, however, enjoy about running is the feeling afterwards. the feeling is not so much a feeling of "why on earth did i just put my body through this long agonizing run", but more like a clearing of the mind. this clearing of the mind is commonly referred to as a "runner's high"... or an endorphin rush.

and according to my friend wikipedia:

"The term endorphin rush has been adopted in popular speech to refer to feelings of exhilaration brought on by pain, danger, or other forms of stress, supposedly due to the influence of endorphins. When a nerve impulse reaches the spinal cord, endorphins are released which prevent nerve cells from releasing more pain signals. Immediately after injury, endorphins allow humans to feel a sense of power and control over themselves that allows them to persist with activity for an extended time."

anyway, with the upcoming commercial holiday known as mother's day... and the possible dilemma of getting a present for karen, i figured i would unwind and gather my thoughts. so like any good junkie, i turned to my endorphins and ran on friday.

i originally had plans to run with my friend (jen) in the morning. unfortunately, jen was not feeling too well. so needless to say, those plans fell through.

on the spur of the moment, i asked to see if my friend (andrea) were interested in running at the ymca. as it turned out, andrea was up for a little run.

(pictured below is andrea... and wally... at the ymca.)


anyway, i had great time running with andrea. it was good to just run and socialize... and clear my head of any thoughts or whatever about mother's day and the loss of my son (braden). andrea and i ran for quite some time too, so it was definitely a good workout. i hope andrea enjoyed the run as much as i did.