Returning to running, with a beat

I’m finally returning to running after a winter injury. Short story: Running on slush and ice can be hard on your knees.

It’s tough going. You can read about my complicated relationship with running here.

After a summer of physio, I’m back to a gradual program of running and walking. Weirdly, all this time on my bike seems to have made me a faster runner. What’s tough? Well, when you first start running walk breaks are your very best friend. You live for the breaks. But these days I’m breaking when I don’t need to from a cardio point of view. That takes discipline.

Also, my trusty neighborhood jogging companion, my dog Olivia, has gotten a bit rusty. I need a couch to 5 km app for the dog.

I’m also working on cadence. The physio folks think given my size I’m actually pretty light on my feet. I don’t have a heavy foot fall. They do think I could increase my cadence, the rate at which my feet turn over. I’m using a metronome app to help me with that.

See some of these apps reviewed here. Running Cadence is the simplest.

Running Cadence is a simple app for Android that allows runners to train and achieve a fast and steady running cadence. The app can automatically detect how many steps per minute you are running at and also gives real time voice feedback during your runs. This is useful for guiding you to keep running on your target cadence.

Apart from the auto-cadence detection and voice feedback, the app does not contain any other advanced features. The app is simple and easy to use, which most runners will probably appreciate and best of all, it’s completely free to download from the Google Play store.

But I like the ones that actually play a tempo beat to which you can match your run.

Why do I care about running?

Here’s a good list of 19 reasons to start running. My favourite reasons are that it’s the most portable fitness thing I do. My bike doesn’t easily travel with me for work. But running? Pack your running shoes and run anywhere. I also love running in the winter, even with the ice and slush. It’s also incredibly efficient, lots of bang for fitness buck. A good bike ride is at least 2 hours but 40 minutes of running feels pretty good to me.

Next up, I have some thoughts, all going well, of doing some duathlons next summer.

And then there’s soccer. That’s just for fun. I play rec league soccer with friends. But it’s probably the hardest thing I do on my knees. Winter/indoor is a bit worse for stopping, turning, and changing directions because the field is so small. So it might be awhile before I’m playing again.

Patience, patience, patience.