Saturday’s Slow Run and Monday’s Non-Run

I could have joined the AREC running club last Saturday morning, but I didn’t. I was afraid that my competitive juices would lead to the aggravation of my injuries, because I tend to try to catch up with people who are running slightly faster than me. Besides, I had already visualized the route I was going to try to run on the previous day. It wasn’t much of a run, really. Just a very slow six miles at a pace I previously covered faster doing the four minute run with one minute walk break. In fact it was a second per mile slower than when I ran the Long Beach Marathon last year. Nevertheless it was still a semblance of a run to me because I put in a lot of effort into it. Despite the slowness, it was still satisfying.

I was planning on running again on Monday but the threat of the elements and some pain on my posterior tibialis tendon conspired against me. With the pain, I thought I might do a 15 to 30 mile bike ride instead but the skies were threatening rain, so I nixed that idea. This was after I had already put on my long sleeved shirt, jacket, cycling shorts, helmet and shoes. So maybe I’ll do a run/walk in a slight drizzle instead, but on my way out, it occurred to me that I had forgotten to stretch. Heading back indoors as the rain droplets started, I changed my mind again and settled for an hour ride doing intervals on the stationary recumbent bike. Running outdoors would have to wait another day.

Some questions to those who happen to drop by this post: Do you listen to an MP3 player while you run or cycle? Do you bring an ID, and what kind? Do you bring your cellphone? As for me, I do listen to the radio on my MP3 player and I only use one earphone so I can still hear what goes on around me on the other ear. I don’t have a Road ID so I carry an old driver’s license with emergency information written on the back, and I always bring my cellphone. The ID and cellphone are usually in an armband and the MP3 player is clipped to the back of my shorts.

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My First Audiobook Experience

Okay, so no more smart phone at work (which I don’t have), or using the company computer (which I hardly do). So what to do, what to do when not a creature is stirring not even a mouse in the middle of the night? Please don’t tell me that reading is not allowed either, or in this case listening to audio books.

 During my short stay on this earth, I have never listened to audiobooks which I’m sure was invented ever since the dawn of recorded media, from vinyl records, 8-track tapes, cassettes, CD, DVD, and now MP3 players. I was an audiobook virgin until this week. There are a lot of websites that you can download public domain audiobooks for free and this is the particular site I went to:  http://booksshouldbefree.com/ . So I decided to give it a try. The first book I downloaded was The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I was always a fan of Sherlock Holmes stories. During my freshman year in college in Manila, I bought a lot of those paperbacks and read them more than I did my textbooks. That, and playing too much tennis. Oh my, the history of my poor study habits at the time L.

                I copied the files to my cell phone and while patrolling the hallways while doing my 15 minute rounds, I listened to the stories. I made sure I only inserted the earphone in one ear so I can still monitor for other sounds. The narration was pretty clear but I encountered a problem with the controls of the cell phone. The buttons were so sensitive that I would inadvertently stop or pause the story and because the menu navigation was not intuitive, I had to search for the story again, start at the beginning, then fast forward it to the spot I was previously listening. To say the least, it was a bit frustrating.

The next day, I copied the files to my dedicated MP3 player and assigned a playlist for the audiobooks. This method worked better except when I paused a story too long, the device turns itself off automatically to save battery life. Then I would have to fast forward the story again. But, it was a better experience than the cell phone.

I’m sure when I become more used to it and listen to these books on tape more often, I’ll figure out how to navigate my rarely used MP3 player. I’ll be getting more low intensity exercise too, by walking up and down the hallway frequently. So this becomes another case of multitasking: doing my job, getting some exercise, and learning more literature.

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