(And why I do this!)

First of all, you need to know how I get around. Well, lucky as I am, being an airline pilot gives me the opportunity to visit a wide range of places. Often more than once and often with enough spare time to go exploring and thus to exercise. Glamorous, yeah maybe, but don't worry. The reality can be far from it.

I started running abroad to cope with the effects of fatigue, or jetlag, sometimes waking up at the weirdest time of day (or night) or not being able to sleep. So don't be surprised if look tired, I am.

Not to be mistaken. I have been running for several years by now, well before I started flying. I grew up in the outskirts of Amsterdam, with a lot of nature in the vicinity, offering a very welcoming environment due to its flat, diverse surroundings. Forests, farmland, enough parks and of course the beach, still one of my favourites.

So why did I decide to start sharing my experiences? Mostly because of the diversity of my runs. Secondly, because I've heard a lot of people say that they think running is boring and I want to prove them wrong. On indoor running however, I would have to agree with them. There's a world of difference between that and being outdoors. I personally prefer running in fresh air instead of in a crowded, odour-filled and air-conditioned box (often opened at limited times). My advice if you want to start running: go outside!

While I did swim as a kid, I never really got into lap swimming so I signed up for some beg/intermediate swim conditioning classes and had my first one tonight. It was a nice 30 minutes of doing different exercises while swimming up and down a baby lane that really got me working on steadying my breath, as well as focusing on moving efficiently. Ever since I took a look at my x-rays from the chiropractor I've really been thinking about how my body moves and when it's off balance -- especially while running, but it was great practice to be in the water and really feel where and when my alignment was off. In the water you really feel the resistance, or in my case, gargle water, when your head isn't aligned, or one half of your body isn't pulling it's weight. 

Also, I honestly don't know if I've ever really felt my obliques doing jack shit until today. Should come in handy! 

The class is once a week and pretty mellow but I think I'd like to finally sign up for a gym with a pool to practice at in between! 

So my mom has been on a crazy Groupon buying binge and purchased me one for 20 sessions of Crossfit. And no, I don't think she actually knows what Crossfit is but she knows I've been trying to be healthy and wanted to pitch in. 

That said, this was my somewhat problematic experience:

Now, my first sign that this was going to be a uncomfortable experience was the gym's online schedule. Frankly, I think it's pretty shitty to not give any sort of introductory option, but whatever, I signed up for a "WOD" at random and showed up to find the small five person class consisted of myself and four other dudes who were clearly Crossfit regulars. 

About 15 seconds into the warm-up I realized just how fucked I was. We were told to jog 200 meters and then do 5 or 10 jumping squats. As I followed these burly boys out in a single file jogging, I realized their version of jogging was my equivalent of my hard running. I couldn't actually tell you whether it was 5 or 10 jump squats because I was so winded from the 200m "jog" that by the time I got back the other 4 meatheads were done jump squatting and were heading back out to run again. I only managed to squeeze in about 2 jump squats before the coach started asking about my running form.

"Does your left leg hurt when you run?" he asked.

I explained that no, it didn't hurt to run but that I was aware of my stride being off balance. I told him I thought it might have to do with the ACL replacement surgery I had many years ago but that was in my right knee. "If anything I think my body is just kind of out of alignment," I told him. And of course, this is a problem that I don't really notice in my own runs which are at a much, much, MUCH slower pace. 

"We're going to fix that for sure," he said and then gave me permission to just "jog" 200 m again and be done warming up.

After some stretching we commenced the "WOD." I will say the coach was good about wanting to talk me through everything and make sure I was using an appropriate amount of weight and resting and I did start to feel like I was getting the hang of it, if not working myself to an exhaustion, by the end of it. 

So what was the thing that really pissed me off?

Coach: "So, we'll see you tomorrow, right?"

Me: "Hah, hah, hah. I mean, I'd still like to be able to go running. I think I'm going to be too sore to do much of both."

Coach: "Well, keep coming here and we'll get you doing a 5k in 18 minutes."

Me: "But, I don't want to do an 18-minute 5k. I just want to cross-train for my running to prevent injuries."

Coach: "Well, I'm just saying we had a girl here who ran an 18-minute 5k."

Me: "Right, well I think I'd be fine finishing in 30 minutes and just don't want to be so sore that I can't go running as often as I'd like to."

Coach: "Listen, you won't become a better runner by running."

Me: "Hmm..." 

Coach: "If you're running a 12 or 13 minute mile that's a problem with your form. We're going to fix your form in here and that's going to have you running 7 minute miles. I never heard of anyone bragging about running a 12 or 13 minute mile, you know?"

Listen, guy. I happen to like running. And I don't really happen to give a shit about how fast other people are running. All I care about is getting outside, and feeling good, and improving against myself. If doing Crossfit 5 times a week is going to turn me into a beast who can churn out a 7-minute mile but is so sore I only go running once a week, than fuck that. I will happily take my 12 minute miles because that is all the more time I get to be outside on a trail or a road with my music and my thoughts and not in some sweatbox with a bunch of protein-powder guzzling gorillas. 

Without a doubt, it is important to build muscles in your legs to prevent injuries and improve form, but for us fucking non-athletes just dipping into the running world, we also have to work on building up lung capacity and pacing. I am not ashamed to say that last month I couldn't run 3 minutes straight without being totally winded because I kept getting out there and doing it and now I can run 8 minutes straight and I have no doubt that with or without Crossfit, a consistent effort in actual running will improve my efficiency as a runner.

I did manage to go for a run after the class, thinking it would be better to do so before the soreness set in the next day. And after doing botth, you know what the biggest difference was? That Crossfit class was the only time I have EVER left a workout feeling worse about who I was than when I came in. I have only ever felt better about myself after a run.