Running - While The World Sleeps

Moonlight, Road Zombies, and The Jell-O Jiggle.

For the record, I love the new Standard Time schedule that starts later in the year and ends earlier. For whatever reason it doesn't feel so much like a burden as it did before the government switched to the shorter schedule. As we enter our first week of Daylight Savings for 2009-10, I see light - no pun intended (well okay...maybe) - at the end of the tunnel. I know that in early spring we'll have our afternoon sun back.

Because of the time adjustment I woke up early yesterday morning - 4am by last week's clock. I decided this was a good opportunity to get out do what Jack and I call "The Super Loop," which is a 4-mile route that he and I take on Wednesdays. Yes, it was dark. Yes, it was OMG:30. But remember: I once did this daily two decades ago, and I've always been an early bird. While in college I usually ran at 5am as a way to fit in in the day. I'm not allergic to the dark, so I grabbed my phone/music player, some headphones, a reflective vest, and my new favorite hat before hitting the road. Musical selection to start the Super Loop: Instrumental German Stoner Rock. Think Black Sabbath meets The Melvins, if you know what either of those bands sound like. Somehow, this hard-driving rock matched the mood before sunrise. When I played it for Sherry later in the van, she said "it's all starting to sound the same and all I can hear are the cymbals." At least it sounds better through headphones...

First thing I noticed when leaving the house was that the sky was clear. Crystal clear like I hadn't seen it in a long time. Then there was the moon - big hurking lurking moon to the West - bright enough to illuminate everything around. First person I saw was a 60-something gentleman walking down the middle of the road. I won't ask. He was like a Road Zombie walking towards something outside of the film's frame. In The Omega Man, the zombies that want to do in Charleton Heston's character only come out at night because the light hurt their eyes. It was a bit like that only he wasn't throwing a flaming torch at me. Didn't even know I was there when I waved. There was definitely an agenda of some sort, but it didn't include anything outside of that dotted line down the middle of the street.

About halfway into the loop I started running. Almost immediately I noticed something different, and it's hard to explain. Rather than thinking and directing my legs to take every step, the leg muscles at one point said, "We're taking over." They started carrying me, rather than my mind carrying them. This may be another turning point in my training. Back when I was bicycling a lot this was an indicator that I had reached a good "cadence," where I pedaled at a rate that didn't require thinking. This could very well be the equivalent. It pleases me greatly. With a couple of stops to take pictures, I was able to check off another 1 1/2 miles of running along the route.

Another thing I noticed this morning was that there was less of "The Jello Jiggle." When I first started this quest to 200 pounds back in mid-August, my body jiggled all over the place on the first quarter mile I ran. While I can't say exactly why, I can theorize that it's a blend of toneless muscle and fat that causes the body to shake around like that. Now that some of the extra layering is gone, the jiggle is much less noticeable - especially on my back and my face. That's right; my face doesn't jiggle up and down like it did. Jello Face. There's your visual for the day.

I'm still not doing lunges, because I'm pretty protective of my knees; they've taken some pretty bad hits over the years, and I want to make sure the left one heals before subjecting it to deep movements by a man who weighs well over the two-dollar mark. Maybe Wednesday when Jack and I are on the Super Loop, so he can help me count them off.

It's like The Omega Man in Overlake at 5am, only without
the zombies out screaming and burning stuff.

Time to stop writing. On my way out the again!

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Music Link: http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/8620
Media Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Omega_Man
Blog Link: http://www.clarkblog.net/search/label/Running