Demoralizerization and Incentiveator 1 and 1

Today I finally crossed the Brooklyn Bridge on foot. I have to say, I should have done it long ago. The New York City iconic bridge offers a beautiful view of the skyline while you get to marvel at the fact that somehow, a bunch of engineers figured out how to cross a body of water using a system of arches and what not. In the great words of Jesse Pinkman, "Yeah Science!" I know, I know...science and engineering...not the same. But I have Breaking Bad on the brain. For those of you Brooklyn running junkies-- the incline is not as bad as the Prospect Park hill-- but it is longer. Total mileage for the run: 4.75.

Which brings me to a segment I'd like to call "Demoralizerization and Incentiveators."

Demoralizeration #1: Don't run with your athletic friends.

So. Running doesn't come easy to you. In fact...MOST exercise doesn't come easy to you. But you strap together a few good weeks and you've lost 5 pounds. Nice job. People start to notice. You actually start to think, running isn't so bad! In fact, I'm kind of looking forward to it! And then, someone close to you-- someone you would never expect...invites you to go for a run.

Do you remember what it was like to play NBA Jam against the kid who had already had the game for 3 months? Don't do it unless you're up for a 86-2 drubbing. Running is an individual activity and to pretend that we're all created equal (in running...I'm not evil) is as silly as it is wrong.

About a week ago I ran with my college roommate Alex who routinely "dusts" me around mile 2. It always happens the same way-- the sidewalk narrows and a baby carriage comes at us from the other side-- our conversation stops as he goes in front to create the single file formation, and then he's 3 steps ahead of me. Wait-- make that 6 steps ahead. He must need to pee pretty bad-- he's kind of sprinting. Do I smell? Of course I'm used to it, so it's no big deal-- but there were times I wanted to keep up. But the simple fact is that I've kicked ass if I've run a sub 9 minute mile and that's pretty average for him. So we're not running compatible beyond that warm up phase and that's okay.

Incentiveator #1 Run to Fun places

It's pretty simple really-- if you run the same track every time it gets boring. I think if you run 4 times a week, one of them should be something silly-- today's run across the Brooklyn Bridge and back was perfect because it was fresh and kept me interested. Good idea.

Until next time.