Developments in Jogging

Ahh, my faithful blog readers. I’ve been a bad blogger. Over a month has passed since my last update, and I’m happy to report that I haven’t suffered any drogging related injuries since my last post, despite some pretty epic air guitar and keyboard solos during technical parts of a run (ie: uphill). I’ve been fairly regular with my jogging, averaging around 3.5 miles and 2 to 3 times a week (trying to keep it to three times a week).

I’ve also added some new routes, and with those routes come fun and new people! Greenlake is still my run of choice when I drop my cuter half off at the park and ride, but we’ve discovered a run nearby that takes us to the beloved Burke-Gilman trail for part of the run. For those of you not in the know, the Burke Gilman is a fantastic trail that goes from Ballard to Woodinville (and the Redhook Brewery). People commute on it via bike, do weekend trips to the brewery and back, and jog. When I hit the trail, it’s usually prime commute time in the mornings around 7:30. I’ve never really noticed bikers that often, unless they’re pulling a cute dog (see older posts).

I’ve found that cyclers come in three types:

1. The hardcore cyclers: the one who wears biking spandex, their old college team shirt, and has the aerodynamic biking helmet. Hardcore cyclers often travel in packs, pretending they’re part of the Tour de Burke Gilman for every ride.
2. The commuters: I’m still trying to figure out how they pull it off, but they often travel solitarily or in pairs. They have the water-proof bags on either side of the rear wheel containing commuting materials…laptops, etc. Their pace is oftentimes easy going, but they have the intense gaze forward of getting to work. My question is what they do once they get to work? When I bike, or do any form of physical exertion (ie: walk a few blocks), I start to sweat. I actually think “sweat” does what I do injustice, and usually prefer to call what I do “raining.” If I were to be a bicycle commuter, I would have to have an extra pair of clothes, a towel, and soap in my water-proof commuter bag. How do they do it?
3. The hippy wanderer: These are, by far, my favorite. I was running last week and came across a couple of hippie wanderer bicyclers. The lead dude was pulling a cart behind him. Instead of a small child, a dog was chilling in the back. The cart had jury-rigged pink wheels from a kid’s bike, while behind him his traveling companion…heavily tattooed and leaving a trail of patchouli…pedaled behind.

I also tried an experiment last week and ran without headphones. Despite not listening to music, I found that “The Edge of Seventeen” by Stevie Nicks became my soundtrack. This was pretty maddening…3 miles of “just like the wild winged dove” ringing in my head will lead to an appointment with a psychiatrist, if I’m not careful.

My routine will face a few hurdles this coming week as I head to Denver…back to high altitude and sunshine. We’ll see if my lungs can handle the reduced oxygen.

-Nate