I feel that itch again

I've been having a hard time motivating myself to run again.  There is a fun run coming up at the end of the month.  I had hoped to be ready for a 10K but have done nothing more than walk the dog the past few weeks.  I'm not sure why that it is.  It goes back to the early days of this pandemic.  I had been running fairly regularly, but with all the tight regulations at the onset of the lockdown, I became a homebody and have had a very hard time getting myself to move again.  However, I see all these other persons running along the river and I get jealous.

It wasn't always like that. When I first came to Vilnius in 1997 there were very few runners.  I had Vingio Park pretty much to myself.  I would see this small man with a headband, maybe a few years older than myself, on a fairly regular basis but that was about it.  Running began to increase with EU ascension in 2004,  The Vilnius Marathon was resurrected that year, as one of the Maxima directors was an avid runner, and wanted the city to have a marathon like all the other European capitals.  It wasn't until the teens that running took off in this country with thousands turning out for the first We Run Vilnius, sponsored by Nike, in 2013.  Now, I found myself running shoulder to shoulder through the parks on any given Sunday.

Vilnius had become a runner's paradise with all its parks connected by paths along the Neris River.  You can carve out any distance you want from 5 to 100 km. without having to deal with too many intersections.  My favorite remains Vingio Park with its spider web of paths, some paved, others no more than rutted footpaths through the pine forest.  Just have to watch out for tree roots.  Once, I decided to run along the river on the other side of Vingio Park, which took me to the exposition halls.  A steep bluff descended to the river.  Karoliniškės I presumed.  There wasn't much room between the bluff and the river.  An old train track used to span the river but was gone now.  Just remnants of the old stone piers.  The city wants to rebuild it as a pedestrian bridge.  Would have certainly cut my distance that day, as I found myself much further afield than I thought.

I like wearing my orange Spiridon t-shirt, in honor of Spyridon Louis who won the inaugural modern marathon at the 1896 Olympics.  A Swiss magazine kept his spirit going by getting everyone running in the 1960s, turning long distance running into a worldwide phenomenon.  They still keep a website going, although it appears to be German now.

I hit my peak in 2017 when I made an attempt at a full marathon. I had run several successful half marathons, bringing my time down under 2 hours and figured I was ready for the next step.  I had trained hard that year, running almost every day, increasing my distance to 10, 12 even 16 kilometers, but when that fateful September day came I found I was no match for that distance.  I had cleared the halfway point under two hours, feeling very good about myself, but at the 30 km. mark my legs began to cramp up.  I hadn't been drinking enough fluids and I found myself slowly grinding to a halt.  Groups passed me with little banners signaling that they were running at a 4 hour pace, then 4 hours 15 minutes and so forth until I finally gave up.  I could barely walk much less run, but made it home feeling utterly defeated.  I haven't brought myself to run that length again.  I chalked up a few more 10K's before the pandemic hit.

However, I feel that itch again.  I got past the bursitis I was feeling in my left shoulder and the varicose veins don't seem to be bothering me as much.  I bought some compression socks, which hopefully will relieve some of the swelling and cramping I feel in my lower legs, and will not let any water station pass without taking a drink, or at least dousing myself in water.  I find it hard to drink and run at the same time, unable to time my breathes with my gulps, but will work on that.  I also sorted out my running shoe problems, knowing to buy shoes at least one size too big and ones that compensate for my overpronation.  I had lost a lot of toenails in the beginning.

I had asked a so-called trainer what shoe was best for me at a clinic sponsored by the Vilnius Marathon some years ago.  He said my feet were hopeless, as the joint at the big toe of my right foot had begun to splay out, and he said I shouldn't be running at all.  He had been busy tending to a pretty girl in front of me, and I guess didn't want to deal with an old fart like me.  Thanks I said with a wry smile, as that joint hadn't been bothering me at all, and so I searched online for the shoes that best fit me.

Running is a state of mind more than anything.  You have to get past the blocks, or walls as runners like to call them, and just let yourself go where your legs take you.  I read this wonderful article about a 71-year-old runner who is still clocking sub-three-hour marathons, but says it is not important to set yourself a fast pace.  He often runs at a 10-minute mile pace, preferring distance to time, yet has been able to motivate himself to break that magic mark 75 times!  I hold no such expectations for myself, although I would like to get my time below 4 hours.

Mostly, I like the feeling that comes with running, not to mention better health. When I was running regularly my doctor commented on how good my heart rate and breathing was.  You have the heart of a runner, she said.  I want to get back into that shape again.