Runsense

Andrew preparing for a run:

Oh you may think he's sleeping, but rest (har har) assured, he's visualizing his work out. Ok, no, he's sleeping until the very moment that I come over with coffee and chocolate in hand and officially bother him. I'd like to point out (1) he's very handsome, (2) that shirt says Englettlaw on it - yep official office promotional swag. It is my advertising goal to get a pajama shirt into every bedroom of America. Because when  you suddenly realize that you need a divorce after eight years of fighting it, you want an easy name and don't want to wait to start the rest of your life. But no. That was a fake out. That's not Andrew preparing for a run.

 Andrew has discovered the joy of running in the morning - possibly the thing that turned me into a morning person - I still think lawschool is the most likely proximate cause of said damage, but I'll stay open to concurrent causation and exacerbation. He's also started to make progress after months of being stalled. This is because of his amazing Physical Therapist in combination with some serious dedication, some bands, and a roller. I need a roller. They are amazing. He is midways through the Couch to 5K program, having made the pivotal turning point where the workout includes more running than walking. This is pretty fun to share with him. I do really enjoy running, but after I worked up to the half marathon mark, I realized it wasn't enough of a priority to make the time suck that going forward with it would require and I have been utterly unsuccessful finding a friend with whom to run. When my dad stopped running due to back problems, I pretty much petered out as well. The nice things about having run is that it's like riding a bike (um, considering how Andrew and I respectively ride our disparate bikes, strike that in almost every regard, except that it's proverbially familiar enough to survive lapses of not having done it) - I already have an innate sense of how to pace myself and can pretty much pick up and run without injuring myself or overdoing it.

And now that there's more running than walking, I'm getting quick moments of that little runner's high that I get when I do run with Andrew. Which is nice. And fun. And I know it's really satisfying to him to be breaking the something-my-body-was-saying-I-shouldn't-do barrier.

So with all that exposition, back to Andrew preparing for his run:

So he dons his official running pants. We found these together and they are pretty awesome. I mean generally moisture wicking anything is awesome by virtue of the term moisture wicking alone, but these have many lovely features and appeal to his sense of vanity. Anyways, on his PT's advice, he tapes his ankles with lovely purple tape (I might have encouraged the purple part of things) then that white tape. Then adds sports socks. Then his official just-for-running shoes.

And his official athletic looking shirt.

Ready to take on the world!

How I get ready for our run:

If I'm at his house, I throw on the vibrams that I've left at his house because they are two sizes too large for me, but kind of work with toe socks, and the only pair of jeans I have, which turn out to be tight and - hard to see in this photo - sparkly! And a shirt I was wearing at work yesterday. As always, we make a funny looking couple with Andrew kitted up like a hardcore athlete and me looking like ... me.

I've also run in my Sketcher's Magicalbuttlifterrockeramazingliar Shoes. Or whatever they're called. Shape ups? As mentioned, I like how comfortable they are for walking and standing around a lot, so they're kind of my regular shoes. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to run in them, but since I run on the balls of my feet, I don't think the balance caveats are as bad. 

Anyways, I really do have official sports-wear and work out clothes. I even wear it sometimes... but it takes a pretty high threshold to inspire me to do these things. When I do Core Rhythms, I'm just as likely - if alone - to do it in a sports bra and cotton Hanes. I think I'm pretty utilitarian about the experience and have a high threshold for the discomfort of regular clothes up to a point. I tend to want looser pants first for pilates exercises. I tend to start needing sports-support for runs over five miles or aerobics with anarobic bouncing. I tend to need the whole moisture wicking kit and non-chafing-caboodle around the seven mile mark for running. My casual approach to sports gear probably gels well with dance, since social dancing pretty  much expects a lot of physical activity in very non-sporty clothes. And once you get into the less serious arena... well we're back to fringe bikinis covered in rhinestones, so... different part of the wardrobe vocabulary there.


Or should it be?? Maybe I'd wear real work out clothes more often if swarovskis were involved... hmmm....