On Potential and Participation..

I spend a lot of time with people who are frightened of moving.  Or who have given up the desire to help themselves.  This happens for a variety of reasons. It underpins the majority of my days when visiting patients in their homes.   

On an other note, today at the clinic, I was perched on top a plinth with one of my patients lying below me while I stretched his hamstrings. A co-worker walked by and mentioned something about running a race I had planned.  My patient looked up at me and asked, "Are you a runner?"

Surprisingly, in the first second of self evaluation,  I was about to deny the fact that I was a runner. That I was only training to be a runner. Or perhaps, well no, I'm really not a runner because I've only been running for less than a year. But in between that first and then second heartbeat, thoughts flooded back to me of my latest long runs, countless 3, 4, and 5 mile runs, and my newly acquired treadmill skills.  I resisted the self deprecating reply I had initially formed and rewarded myself. "Yes", I said. "I am a runner".  For me, at that moment, I was aware of what a powerful (and empowering) statement it was. I have said it before digitally, but it's another thing to answer outright and believe it when asked up close and personal.

I'm not just a runner because I run, but because I enjoy the process. 
I enjoy who I've become, how I feel during and after the run. How my thinking continues to become clearer despite the ravages of menopause. I run because it makes me better - in all contexts. I run because through it, I'm finding out more about who I am, what I'm capable of - what I can become. This is what I have learned because I run.

 We are all organic machines of flesh and blood designed to move.  We are born to move. To deny ourselves that fundamental process condemns us to apathy, vulnerability and disease. Movement is the bridge that unites our consciousness and physical body.  We are all so worth discovering our potential through this evolutionary gift. This is what running has also taught me.

So, coming back to my opening paragraph- oh, my home bound charges, if you could just see yourselves as I do - a body that has aged, yes - but has the potential to improve, regardless. Movement is healing to both body and mind. Your body needs to move, it is yearning for it.. please, resist sitting on the sidelines. 
Participate in your recovery!

Today's Treadmill Run

A much better run this morning. I set the treadmill to it's pre-programmed hill setting, and it took me through 40 minutes of inclines between 3-8 and speeds between 3.5-5.5. I was able to adjust things on the fly, but the only thing I changed in the last 2 minute interval was the speed, to 6.5. At that point I was parallel to the ground again, and I thought it was so much easier than the previous 43 minutes. Those inclines are killers. And I sweated. Yay.

I tried something new. I moved one of my surveillance cams to the exercise room. It's just kewl. And perhaps I might help motivate someone to get moving.

Magellan Data

Treadmill LIVE

Treadmill Live
Because I can.

Not pretty, but amusing none the less.

Username: guest

Password: run

Apple users download this app
Address is http://http://69.123.135.9:8686
Use above username and password

But I'm grateful for what I have..

I went for a 40 minute preset 'interval' run on the treadmill after work today. I was able to set the time myself, but the machine alternated between 4, 5, and 6 mph. Each interval was 2 minutes long. No incline. I certainly didn't feel like I was going very fast. My heart rate never went above 150, which is actually what I try to achieve on the road during my slow runs. I wonder why I'm able to achieve that steady state on the treadmill, and not the road?*

After reading the manual a bit, it seems that as a custom program, I can either run for time, distance, calorie burn or heart rate. I can not pre-set intervals or inclines or speed. I have to do that all on the fly while I'm running. Bummer.  
But, I'm grateful to have this machine for only the moving fee of $200.
I covet the NordicTrack 2150.

Maybe one day I shall own one.

I watched Star Trek while I ran. The time flew by.
I also covet Chris Pine..

but I shall never own him.

It's supposed to be very cold again tomorrow, and the winds are still supposed to be high.  Maybe I'll try the incline program next.

Magellan Data

*Following being distracted by thoughts of Chris Pine, I thought about it a little more. It's because the treadmill does not ALLOW me to run faster than the belt. So, on the road, I speed up, heart rate goes up, I get tired, I slow down. A little.  It stays elevated, because I still don't know how to slow down enough. I guess.