Fitness vs. Fatness: Nostalgia Runs

Goodbye, friend.

In previous FvF posts, I’ve discussed the various tricks, shim shams, and underhanded ploys that I use to force myself to workout when I’m not feeling it. Yesterday, I used an old favorite to break out of my recent slump; 100 degree weather is good for very little, least of which is running.

With my move rapidly (like 2-days-rapidly) approaching, I decided to pull out the good ol’ “nostalgia run”. In this particular ploy, you reminisce on all the pleasant runs you’ve taken on a given route in the past. You then remind yourself that you hardly have any chances left to run an old favorite, so you have to go immediately, before it’s too late. After all, the human brain is too stupid to remember how painful those runs may have been. It only recalls your former glory.

The nostalgia run is a powerful motivator for me; possibly the most effective of them all. It’s the one I use frequently when I go back to NJ for a weekend or occasionally when I visit College Park. It’s also the one that makes the run the least painful. With the mind intent on taking in every detail, there’s hardly any time to experience the pain.

Yesterday’s nostalgia run was done over my classic route from Navy Yard to the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial and back. My legs did take a bit of a beating (the blazing sun really takes a lot out of them), but all things considered, it was a nice farewell to my faithful path. With all of my groceries and dishes packed, I settled for drinking a protein shake for dinner while we scrubbed away at the kitchen surfaces and rolled up rugs.

My apartment has reached critical mass at this point. The amount of boxes stacked all over have rendered further cleaning a near impossibility at the moment. I’m stuck playing the waiting game now and praying that all of my crap fits in my dad’s van; if we have to make two trips, I’m out of the will.

Fitness vs. Fatness: Motivation and lasagna

I run for a lot of different reasons. Although I discussed at length why I like to run, I feel that I did not adequately cover the various things that get me out the door on any given day. Some days, it’s because I’m feeling fat. On others, it’s the recollection of how much my cardiologist appointment cost and my desire to never schedule another one. Sometimes it’s the false sense of superiority I get from running past someone eating a cheeseburger on a bench (it’ a false sense because if I hadn’t mustered the motivation to run, I would be sitting one bench over, eating a double cheeseburger). On occasion, it’s some vague notice that I should be running, but I can’t figure out why.

I personally need a wide swath of reasons to go for a run in order to trick, motivate, and generally manipulate myself into running on a regular basis. I find that my conscious may be fully willing to accept some BS reason one day, but completely immune to it the next. Today it was just really nice out and I got sad that I have a limited number of days to run my favorite route.

When I got back from work, I ate half of one of the scones that Jenny brought me from New York and pounded a few cups of water. After digesting for 45 minutes, I ran the monument loop and came back to hit the pool. Not having a pool on the roof anymore is going to suck. I rarely take advantage of it, but it’s the most refreshing way to cool off after a run.

Although probably way too balla for me.

The main downside of this running business is the time commitment. It’s already almost 9 and I just showered and settled down. I’m polishing off a piece of the lasagna I made yesterday with the leftover (from Thanksgiving) turkey as we speak. I think I’ll make some headway on Archer Season 2 now. Have a nice night everyone!