Well, it's just been one of those weeks. Noting outside the ordinary happened. Still gossip and drama in the library, small portions of good food in the chow hall, and tough communication in my cell. I guess I felt like I had to do something to spice thins up today.
We had a light rain yesterday that left the track spongy. After a lap of walking, I thought it would be a great time to run barefoot today. I removed my shoes and socks, then jogged up to meet Doc, my bleach-white feet acting like beacons. the ground felt wonderful, like cookie dough between my toes. It was just dry enough that I could leave footprints but not be slowed by mud stuck to my feet.
Doc took a break after eight laps, but I was enjoying the massage on-the-go too much to stop. I got a few weird looks and funny salutations. They just don't understand. It felt better than running with shoes.
I always finish my runs with a faster-paced lap and a full-speed finish, so after my eleventh lap, I lengthened my stride and got going. My footfalls were deeper and stickier than usual, but it was like I gained a sense of the power of my stride.
Because it was so comfortable, I didn't think I would have any blisters. Boy, was I wrong. When I came in from rec, I had two huge blisters on my bog toes and a couple on my other toes. I drained and put triple antibiotic on them all, but my feet feel like they have been through a bad acupuncture session and acid bath. I know I'll heal up quickly. I should have known I would pay for the pleasure of running barefoot.
For a couple months I've been taking off every morning from work to go to rec for an hour and a half. I figured out with Ereman that our mornings are really slow, so it's not hard for him to maintain things while I'm gone. The library is pretty easy anyway. Take names, number, and book info and pass it on to the boss to be entered into the computer.
Anyway, I've been working out and running with Doc again. He pushes me on the weights and I push him on the track. It's a great arrangement.
This morning, however, we had a third join us for the run. He's a guy out of my dorm who had heard about my runs (they really aren't that special but anyone who runs more than a mile is strange here) and wanted to join us.
With three in the pack, we didn't want to hog the track running side-by-side, so we settled into an Indian run. For those who don't know what an Indian run is, it is where the runners travel in a vertical line and the runner in the rear overtakes the pack on each lap or interval. Unfortunately, we did it backwards - the front man dropping to the back.
Believe it or not, it is easier to speed up over a short distance than slow down. This logic kept our front man from dropping back, which meant that the other two guys had to speed up to overtake him. Over a few laps we went from a decent jog to a medium-paced run and we only got faster. I'm not accustomed to so many speed changes and was worn out after only eight laps - about two miles. Doc and the new guy wondered what was wrong with me, but, for some reason, I couldn't keep pace with them.
Because of the surplus library aides, I was able to take the afternoon off yesterday to go to rec. This was my first opportunity to go to rec in two weeks due to lockdown and illness, and I wanted to make it count.
The gym was not available for use because court lines were being painted on the floor, so it was outside only. What a great day for it, too! The temperature was in the seventies and the sun was shining. Our lake of a track had dried to run on. The only bad thing was the super-strong wind. Dirt was picked up and thrown in my face constantly and, even with my head bent over, it was a task to run into the gusts. I wasn't going to allow moving air to get in the way of a good run, though. I hammered out five miles - the most I've run at once in a good while.
Little did I know how much that run was going to hurt me. Today my legs are a bit sore, but nothing that keeps me from walking normally. However, my lungs and throat did not fare so well. The combination of dry air, dust and heavy breathing tore apart the lining in my throat, and the stale recirculated air indoors hasn't helped the matter.
I stayed up last night coughing and choking on a scratchy wind pipe, so I set up my hot pot as a humidifier on my bunk. That helped some, but not enough to feel better this morning.
Today, as I was thinking about my throat and the dry air of this place, I realized that this place is like a museum, except we are the ugly paintings no one wants to see. the state preserves us as efficiently as possible - usually to our detriment. the dry air keeps art from decaying and we are even pumped full of preservatives in the dining hall and commissary. Kind of strange.
* "Visiting a museum is a matter of going from void to void" ~
Robert Smithson
It's been about six month since I've run or worked out seriously with all the down time here. Not having a real job or classes to keep me busy, I figured it was a good time to start again. I went out a few times last week to do some stuff solo - pull ups, hanging crunches and leg presses - and get used to the new facility. Even taking it easy, I made myself sore and I wasn't able to do near as much as I had previously. I knew I had a long way to go to end up in the shape I needed for the triathlons I dream of doing.
As I was warming up to run yesterday, a new friend asked me how far I planned to run. I told Doc I hoped to reach two miles. Then we set off on the 1/4-mile trail around the rec yard. After four laps I said I needed a break, but Doc told me I had two more laps in me. His pushing got me through those and, after one lap break, he pushed me through the next two to finish the two miles.
Having completed my mission for the day, I was content to continue walking the track but Doc had other plans. We went into the gym and he put me to work. The entire two-hour rec period was spent doing some kind of lifting or moving. Doc was really good at finding good weights for me and also pushing me to complete the sets. Without even trying to, I had found a good workout partner. I look forward to killing myself on the weights, getting sore enough to waddle and stand stiffly, and eventually getting to my desired fitness level.
It was a beautiful day outside today and I had to take full advantage and share it with some other guys. I tried to convince a couple of other guys to come out and play hacky sack with me, but they both wanted to stay in and lay on their bunks. Only when Rabbit, fresh out of cell block, said he would join us from his new dorm did Shawn agree to go out.
It turned out that Rabbit didn't show up anyway. Shawn and I played hacky sack with a few other guys from other dorms. Since we have been playing in the dorm frequently, we were far better and dropped their jaws with a few tricks. About an hour passed and the other guys went back inside, so I got to running.
I only finished a mile before some guys asked me to play soccer with them. The last time I played soccer was late last fall, but I'm always up for kicking the ball around. We played until the sun went down thirty minutes later.
It was so nice to be outside for such a long time (little more than two hours), especially after nightfall. I'm really looking forward to going camping when I get out. Even just walking around or going running on my own time sounds great. It can't come soon enough.
Today the Philosophy class was canceled. That gave me the first opportunity to go to recreation in a long while. I got outside and figured I would take it easy on my run. I did a short warm up and a few stretches, then took off with a jog. For the first mile I was surprised at how fresh and fit I was feeling. I could breathe and cycle my legs without much effort. Even through the second mile I was running well.
When I completed the second mile I noticed a pain in my knees just below the joint. I used to get the same pain playing soccer during high school, but this felt much sharper. I had to stop the run after two and a half miles, not one of my best days at all. Not even average.
I set a new best distance for running during recreation - nearly five miles. If I take out the time between laps ten and eleven it took thirty-six minutes - not too shabby for a guy building back into shape.
I went outside this morning with Carlos, a friend from my last dorm and fellow soccer player, to run together at rec. We ran together when soccer games were abruptly ended due to a ball sailing into no-man's-land over the fence. Those times weren't really training but only finding something to do once the soccer action stopped. We were usually only able to fit in two or three laps before tiring or rec being called in.
This morning we decided to try for distance, as far as we could run without killing ourselves. Carlos has not been running as often as I have so I didn't expect him to keep pace the whole time. But he surprised me. He kept pace and even quickened toward the end of our target laps until we were sprinting ( well, as much as a sprint is possible after a log run) to finish.
It felt great to put so much mileage underfoot. Being able to run city streets, country roads, or park trails would be a huge improvement over these repetitive laps, but these laps give a decent high nonetheless.
Over the past few days I've gone out to recreation in the morning before the sun is too hot. I've been doing a lot of running - intervals followed by approximately 100 yard sprints. The air feels great in the morning and there's usually a nice breeze to wick away the sweat.
This morning Fifth needed someone to wear his friend's shoes out to rec to return them after being cleaned for visitation. I wore them outside, expecting to get a similar size to be able to run in. Instead I got boots that were two sizes too big. My feet were going to have a rough time today.
I didn't want to just walk around the field so I cinched up the laces as tight as I could and still had about an inch and a half in the toebox. Because the shoes were so floppy and heavy I decided to drop the hard running and just go for distance. I managed three miles before my calves were screaming for relief from the too-big boots. I guess it was kind of like weight training with all that extra mass. For the remainder of rec I juggled a soccer ball barefoot on the dry grass, which felt far better than running in clunkers.
Yesterday evening the field and gym opened for recreation ... finally.
With excitement built up for a potential pick-up soccer match, I was a little disappointed when only six or seven players showed up.
Not one to allow the circumstances get me down, I decided to do intervals around the track. I was shooting for seven intervals of one minute hard running followed by two minutes of jogging all back-to-back.
Boy, all this time without recreation has killed my stamina. I was able to get in three intervals before struggling to suck wind. After about five minutes of walking I picked up again. After only two more intervals I conceded defeat and walked for the rest of the hour.
Hopefully I can regain the endurance I lost. It will only come with more frequent recreation, though, and I have no control over that.
