Finding Myself by Losing Myself

"The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn." - David Russell

It's been pretty easy... this life of mine. It sometimes feels like things are handed to me right on cue. But every now and then, just when life seems to be clicking along there is a breakdown and I'm forced to struggle with something. Well for the past couple months I've been fixing myself after one of those breakdowns. When a long romance comes to an end, it forces one to take stock of themselves and find out who they are on their own. I needed to do some searching. This running thing is probably one of the biggest changes I've made to my lifestyle since high school. I never thought I'd become one of those guys I see jogging on the path at 7 in the morning, but here I am. I don't know where this is going to take me, but I love the new struggle because it's different from the old struggle.

I skipped a run and took a rest day yesterday because I needed to vote and the track was covered in frozen rain and fresh snow. That's how I find myself on day 7 after only 6 days. I didn't want to fall or twist an ankle, so I sort of chickened out. The upshot is that I vote at the Margate Fieldhouse, which has a public gym operated by the Chicago Park District. The price of membership is a paltry $17 each month, so I got membership through the end of March. Now I can run on the "dreadmill" there if and when the weather is not conducive to running outside. "What would that entail?" you may ask... considering I am willing to run in rain and in sub-freezing temperatures. Well, if it's pouring rain or if there are slippery icy conditions, then I'll resort to the old hamster wheel. Otherwise, it's all outdoor running for me.

That brings me to this morning's run. It was about 25 degrees outside (that's Fahrenheit for you foreigners, and it equals about -4 Celsius) and there was still some ice leftover from yesterday, but not enough to keep me off the path. I put on my not-made-for-running shoes and my sweatpants and hoodie and started off on my daily run. Today was pretty simple, just six repetitions of two minute runs / one minute walks. Somewhere around the fifth repetition, my right knee started to feel a little sore - but I was able to walk it off and the pain didn't come back.



As you can see, the shoes I'm attempting to run with are not quite what's prescribed for running. I'll need to head over to the running store and use their treadmill so they can recommend a more suitable pair before I injure myself! The good news is I made it all the way through today's run and also snapped a few nice pictures of the lake in all its icy glory. I think this is finally starting to feel like a routine, but I know I have a little way to go before I'm ready to run a 5k ... but I think I'm past the most painful days. The hardest part of this journey was starting to run in the first place.