Pushing Myself Physically

Today after I got a breakfast burrito with my girlfriend, in sweatpants, I proceeded to run 5 miles at a 6 mph pace.

Then, I moved upstairs, did 4 sets of incline press, 3 sets of curls, 3 sets of arm raises, 3 sets of squats, and went in the sauna for 10 minutes.

I have never ran 5 miles continuously until today. I wasn’t even planning on running 5, but I thought to myself, “if I was already at 4, why not break my previous record?” At each mile, I told myself I could go a little further until I realized that at about 225 pounds, I’ve run 5 miles.

This feels like a physical accomplishment for me, especially because I’d like to run a half marathon during the next calendar year. My next goal that I’m going to try to go for is the 10 K. From here, it’ll be easier to continue adding distance to a consistent pace.

I noticed that I was physically exhausted when I got back from the gym. Interestingly, my low frequency anxiety about everything was low, if not muted. One theory I’d like to understand better is if it’s possible to consistently mute anxiety through large amounts of exercise. Put another way, is anxiety merely my excess energy that I haven’t been taking advantage of?

Regardless, I’d like to continue getting stronger both as a runner and as a lifter. I anticipate that the mental fortitude that comes out of accepting boredom for a few hours at a time as I get into the runner’s flow will pay dividends.

I saw a meme online earlier that talked about how we should be more comfortable judging people by their appearance as a proxy for their judgement. I agree with this, and think to some extent we do this. In cases where we don’t, we still recognize the accomplishments of long-term effort. Those who write books, can lift large amounts of weight, run a marathon, dress exceptionally are rewarded, and should be.