Simple Observations: Five Minute Rule

I love running.  If I'm told for certain that I could never run again, some psychiatrist is going to make a lot of money off me.  Not only do I feel healthier and stronger after a run, I also feel more even-keeled and happy; thank you endorphins!  It's my kind of meditation.  The recent discovery of the Zombies, Run! app on my phone has made running even more fun than it was before.  Now, not only do I run 5k's with music, I also gather supplies and evade zombies.  Not to mention it's a great motivator when you hear zombie groans in your ear; you run faster or get eaten.

And just because it's my meditation doesn't mean running is always a breeze (although I make breeze).  There are parts of running I have to will myself through, and I'm sure there are other runners out there who've experienced the same thing.

The Five Minute Rule

The first and last five minutes of a run are the worst, and everything in the middle is that beautiful rhythm of running shoes on pavement, dirt, grass, asphalt, etc.  But in order to get to, and lengthen, this cadence, the runner must make it past those five minutes.

The First Five

It's one of those mornings.  The sun is barely up over the apartment complex, and it's frigid (for California).  I'm yawning and stumbling worse than a zombie, but at least I'm up, jacketed in a fleece, and out the door.  Never mind I still have bed-hair or the imprint of pillowcase folds on my cheek!  Yesterday my time was 29:04, and today the goal is to run until I collapse (or get eaten, as the Zombies, Run! case may be).

So, I start running.  At first my legs are stiff from cold, and my ankles don't want to move. Then my lungs start warming up, and my body is telling me, "Hey!  What the freak is this!?"  The cramping and breathing start to peak at about three minutes and decline into warm happiness after, so just make it through the first five, self, and it'll be fabulous!  Piece of cake, er, carrots!

The Last Five

"Why did I think this was a good idea?!"  I"m no longer bleary eyed, and in place of pillow-prints is a nice sheen of fuming lobster red across my face; also, that bed-head hair has become a tangled mess from tightening my ponytail.  And my lungs are BURNING!  All across my right side it feels like I'm being raked with jagged fingernails.  Ahead of me on the sidewalk is a man giving me a sheepish grin while his tiny Chihuahua barks furiously at me.  If I wasn't so out of breath, I might have said good morning.  The three-story apartment building casts a huge shadow over a dinky playground I'm running towards, and water sounds so nice right about now.  This might be a good time to stop.

"Zombies, 100 meters," says the autobot warning system from my headphones.  You're kidding me?  Now?  Maybe if I keep at this speed, I'll outpace them.  So, I turn left, away from the apartment building.

"Zombies, 70 meters."  Fudge.  Okay lungs, we're dying, but let's do this anyway!  A little faster.  Oh fingernails, it's worse!

"Zombies 50 meters."  It burns!  Oh how badly it burns!

"Zombies 40 meters."  Look at those pretty stars in my eyes.

"Eeeeggggghhhhhh," the zombie rasps in my ear.  No, I can't run any faster!  

"Zombies 30 meters."  I think I may collapse.

"Eeeeggghhhhh..."

"Zombies evaded."

That's the sweetest sound I've heard all morning.  My gate becomes a zombie-like shamble again as I turn around at the pool to make my way home. With my heart pounding through my ears, I fumble with my phone's password.  The time reads 31:52.

Sweet.

Stay tuned for another Simple Observation next Thursday.  Please leave a comment below with your own five minute rule stories!  Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful day!

~Katie Healy