Skip to my Lou

If it hadn’t been for the sloppy weather, I could have been persuaded to abandon my planned rest day for another good run after work today. But by the looks of it, you’re more likely to find me catching up on my latest The New Yorker in the hallway outside my classroom than taking a Wednesday evening run before class.

What good does a surprise 70-degree day serve if it’s raining all the time?

Sure, I could run at the rec. center again, but I’ve decided to ban the track from my running regiment for the time being. Running in circles for a couple of hours has its perks… wait, wait a minute. No, it really doesn’t.

But all this outdoor dedication is for a good cause: I’m hoping that I can acclimatize between now and whenever hot, muggy days hit NEOhio to make for less painful and dangerous breathing situations this summer. Perhaps I can just ease into 90 degrees one day at a time? Or even explain to my slightly asthmatic lungs that I’m going love hills for the next several months and they’re just going have to deal with it.

Going back to the track right now would be like curling up in bed after another sleepless night and getting cozy enough to fall asleep just as the light sounds of rain can be heard pawing at your window, lulling you to sleep. Not that that’s what happened this morning.

Nevertheless, I have taken to supplementing my hill-climbing ways with flat-land exercises, like skipping to my lou. Perhaps it sounds a little too much like something J.Lo. would do to get that J.Lo. butt, but skipping, I have discovered, is an awesome way to break myself into hills. That is, of course, when I don’t actually have any substantial hills to run.

It was just another embarrassing thing I did to someone who dared to walk with me in public. I have had a bad habit in the past of running in a gawky fashion or run-dancing to funky late-90s hip-hop songs that blast at the rec. center. But poor, Neil: we took a walk on one of these lovely past couple of days and I insisted on skipping or lunging half way down the street. It left my fairly sore through the earlier part of yesterday, but helped me kick up hill after hill during my afternoon run.

So, if you’re in NEOhio and you see a chick skipping down the street with a very determined (and, likely, very exhausted) look on her face, it could be me. Please wave!