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Before: It's 4:08 AM, 25 F., with no breeze. Time to get out there.
After: Decent run, but slow: 13:44/mile. I did not tire excessively by the end of the run, nor was the cold too excessive.
Afternoon: I tired excessively by the end of the day. I did my compound push movements, but my ability to execute the repetitions declined substantially in the second movement. I skipped the biceps curls.
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I had planned to lift and run today, but my schedule was disrupted, and I only had time to do one. I chose to lift. There's always tension between running and lifting unless I'm training for a marathon. For the marathon, there can only be one master. For life, lifting claims its rightful place as a necessary activity. Lifting confers most of the benefits of running in terms of reduction in cardiovascular disease, cancer, and reduction of morbidity in old age, though to an attenuated degree. Unlike running, lifting can prevent or erase sarcopenia. Quite honestly, however, I lift for more prosaic reasons. These days, I'm frustrated with my running because I have slowed down so much. The poundage drops in my lifting do not bother me so much, and I know that much of the drops is occurring because I'm managing my shoulder impingement syndrome. When I lift, I listen to music and feel the build-up of effort as I work through the five sets I do for each exercise. By set four, my muscles involved grow consciously tired. I usually go to failure in the fifth set. This is very satisfying, if often a bit painful.
The other reason that I lift is, admittedly, vanity. I like the effect that lifting has on my physique. I typically run a fair number of miles per week, which moderates my success in growing muscle. But I do not think men who do not lift look very good with no shirt. Since I run on the hottest days of summer shirtless, I'm motivated to prepare for it. And, finally, when I step from my shower, I need to look at least halfway decent for my wife.
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It was a heavy lift to get out on my run today, despite the sunny weather. The temperature is 31 F. with a windchill at 21. I've lost my mental toughness; where the mind goes, the body follows. I'm not in a celebratory, triumphant, mood over my small success. I feel more like I did what had to be done. This is my view of training, both mind and body. It has to be done, or you decay.
January was not a good training month. After this tepid start for 2023, my goal is to turn it around in February. Denise speculates that I'm experiencing COVID blues. I see it as a failure of the will; failure of elan vital. When training regularly, the pattern acquires its momentum, which makes it easy to perpetuate. I have lost that tempo. Time to regain it.
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