i was so excited that anderson cooper went to the congo and had reporting from sudan. and yet that week of coverage got me, oh so sad. night after night, i sat on my couch and cried because everything seems so hopeless and so so ugly. death. rape. inaction.
and so i focused on the inane. whenever coop travels, he seems to wear the same blue safari-style shirt. does he have twenty of them or is that his lucky travel shirt that kept him alive in a war zone? was he shot at and lose his crew, emerging with his pants shredded but his blue shirt completely intact. pristine even. maybe they dress him up the same so that we can focus on the story and are not distratcted by what he wears.
so, i got up saturday morning, a little in the dumps, my shallow yet so meaningful existence threatened by thoughts of the sudanese. stories of women being regularly raped on water runs. it seems that if the men go out they get killed. so those are the choices - do we send people out to die or to be raped? pictures of two year-olds shot and beaten. it was saturday morning and i was thinking of congolese war orphans and i thought, enough!
i got out of bed and slathered my body in hydrocortisone cream (my body is not always a friend of nature. i then took two puffs from the asthma inhaler, tugged the sneakers on and headed out to the park. about five miles later, all i could think about was whether my knees would hold out for the 4 flights up to my apartment.
i'm thinking that is what those un folk must be doing. they spend their days recovering from gruelling morning runs (yes, five miles IS gruelling) and thus have no energy to deal with world problems.
10 comments:
Maybe the soon-to-be UN Secretary General from Korea can pick up the pieces and restore some hope in the body. Probably not, but one has to hope.
It seems so defeating my dear
I KNOW
so it is important for me
to pick a strong STRONG cause
that seems to have make a difference
and have a strong plan -
and that is ONE.
REad about it in Time magazines
back issue - Man of the Year -
with Bono and Bill and Melinda
Gates and the article how the
project PROJECT not charity
works...
I need that cream and inhalers
too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yes running does help in many many ways - though it is killing my knees. however, i am told that if i run enough it will ultimately help the knees.
lol! you are certainly a very very lucky girl with your tight tight ass.
yes, hopefully. we have to always keep hope alive because otherwise there is nothing.
i hope they are right when they say:
Don't mistake Asian mild manners for a lack of steel
hey sophie, glad to hear that you are so galvanised. the make poverty history (one) campaign is a great cause (i have a couple of their t-shirts). the difference that 'debt' cancellation would make? before anything else. i am involved, in my very little way, with keep a child alive. and i think to myself, if we all did a little, well...
how was half nelson?
Sleep was cute and
ecclectic but missed something-
not sure what....
In addition to running, do some lightweight quad curls, calf extensions and hamstring curls (if a machine is available). That should help shore up those poor joints. If you're running on concrete- STOP. If your shoes are older than a year, it's probably time to buy new running kicks.
That's all I've got.
thanks for all the tips, vile. i need all the help i can get. i am a very amateur runner - i am still trying to figure out what a split is (sans banana). do you run?
i do try to run off road as much as possible and keep a close eye on my kicks. but i have been lax about the weight training...
I do run- the "split" you refer to is most likely what is known as "shin splints" a painful problem for newer runners (if you get them, you'll definitely know it). Normally, you'll get shin splints because the muscles shoring the shin are either underdeveloped or your stride is improper or both.
For distance running, you should practice landing your foot ahead of your heel. Landing heel-heavy will cause an enormous reflexive contraction in the tibialis anterior (that pesky shin muscle). Continued contractions lead to pain- that muscle isn't exactly developed enough in most people to absorb that amount of shock. Likewise, landing toe-heavy is also a problem.
Often, runners land heel-heavy because they try to stride too far or they lean forward, placing their center of gravity over their heel on the downstep. Most women normally commit the second, because they are a bit bustier and tend to lean forward more often as they run. This is usually corrected with a proper sportsbra and concentrated effort.
A decent, low cost work-out for the tibialis anterior is to stand with your heels and arch off of the edge of a step, platform, etc, and lower yourself below a standing-flat position and then raise yourself to tiptoes. Hold something for balance- bodyweight alone is enough to build the muscles. I can almost guarantee soreness the next day. Walking up hills also helps.
vile, thanks a mill for the tips. it is getting cold and this is when my dedication to the run will really be tested and where all these pointers will help me out.
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