When I picked up jogging two winters ago, it was a life-saving measure. The winters in Norway, well, suck. November and December are especially difficult since it gets darker and colder and darker and colder. The snow that’s good for cross-country skiing doesn’t arrive until January and I don’t have slalom skis. Hubby suggested that I start running to help my psychological state of mind in these early winter months.
He suggested, then cajoled and then he flat-out forced me out on the ice-covered sidewalks bundled up in thermals and fleece jackets. That night, we ran a scant 3km (1.8 mi). I pretty much thought I was going to heave my frozen lungs up on the living room floor when we got back to the flat. After more cajoling and eventually blackmail, we kept running through the winter. Our normal route was about 5km (3.1mi).
I have been running ever since. I tend to run less in the summer time, as I ride my bike almost every day. We live about 198m (650ft) over sea level and Downtown is literally DOWN. I can whiz to my job or some swank café in ca. 15 minutes and use a hefty 30-40 minutes to get back up to the top of the fjord. (heh. I said "fjord".) As a result, my running regime has held steady at 5km - 7km (4.3mi), for the past year.
All of that changed yesterday.
I can feel almost every muscle in my legs and feet, but I ran 12km (7.5mi) yesterday. For a girl who hated, and I mean loathed, to run in high school, this is a major break through. The trail we (Hubby + friend J + I) ran took us over asphalt, dirt paths and rocky and rooted terrain in the woods. Friend J is Mr Athlete and he mercifully slowed down a bit so I could keep up. He and hubby chatted amiably the whole time, while I concentrated simply on breathing. (In fact, I’m amazed they could hear one another over my labored panting.)
I don’t know when I’ll run that trail again, but it feels great to have done it at least once. I have this strange ‘sense of accomplishment’ tugging at my psyche that I'm not sure what to do with.
I've Gathered You Here for a Reason...
Hi People.
This is it. This will be my blog. I've got too many of you on the brain and I've done too little about it. How are you to know that I've been thinking about you, yes, you who is reading this blog at this very moment?
There is something about living far away from good friends that makes it hard to write emails. I find that when I sit down to write an email, there is too much to say. As a result, I say nothing at all. Ironic, no?
My solution, then, is to just WRITE. I'm gonna put it all out there in cyberspace for you to read, and hopefully comment, at your leisure.
In case anyone was wondering, "pausefisk" refers to the old days in Norway when there was only one TV channel. After the day's broadcasting was finished, the studio turned the camera to an aquarium. So instead of sending static from 2am - 6am, you could watch fish. (I am NOT making this up.) Nowadays, most TV channels broadcast around the clock or just send static when they go off the air for the evening. "Pausefisk" (loosely translated as the "fish break") has come to mean several things:
* A not-so-funny comedy show
* A period of near-comatose activity
* A rebound lover after the break-up of a long relationship
To me personally, it means taking a break in a silly, unconstructive way. Cheers!
This is it. This will be my blog. I've got too many of you on the brain and I've done too little about it. How are you to know that I've been thinking about you, yes, you who is reading this blog at this very moment?
There is something about living far away from good friends that makes it hard to write emails. I find that when I sit down to write an email, there is too much to say. As a result, I say nothing at all. Ironic, no?
My solution, then, is to just WRITE. I'm gonna put it all out there in cyberspace for you to read, and hopefully comment, at your leisure.
In case anyone was wondering, "pausefisk" refers to the old days in Norway when there was only one TV channel. After the day's broadcasting was finished, the studio turned the camera to an aquarium. So instead of sending static from 2am - 6am, you could watch fish. (I am NOT making this up.) Nowadays, most TV channels broadcast around the clock or just send static when they go off the air for the evening. "Pausefisk" (loosely translated as the "fish break") has come to mean several things:
* A not-so-funny comedy show
* A period of near-comatose activity
* A rebound lover after the break-up of a long relationship
To me personally, it means taking a break in a silly, unconstructive way. Cheers!
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