Today is just another ordinary day.
My (and his™) iPhone alarms went off at 8am, but I woke up half an hour later because I couldn’t sleep properly last night. Despite the insomnia, I was in a pretty good mood, humming softly while I brushed my teeth and got into my running shorts. I made sure I had a 30-min run today by taking a glimpse in my miCoach schedule on the iPhone and briefly checked my e-mail.
I was pulling my hair up in a ponytail when he™ got in the bathroom and told me the news.
I rushed to my iMac to find my Twitter stream exploding. I briefly scrolled through the messages while plugging my iPhone to sync some new songs from my iTunes running mix. Closed the iPhone 4S tab that I was checking out last night, as well as the keynote (is it called now a Timnote?) presentation from the iPhone event. I opened up Apple.com. Then Wired.com. Then Google.com.
I typed some half-assed tweet in my Apple keyboard and shuffled around my Macbook Pro to find my sunglasses and my iPhone armband. While running, I was thinking how cool would be if we could use Siri on our Macs. Surely it’d be amazing to tell Siri create an appointment in iCal while I’m typing in an article in Pages…
Today is just another ordinary day.
* This is a really personal post for me. You have to allow me the lack of comments. Thank you.
This September (apart from my cat’s first birthday, according to his vet) marks another anniversary, personal this time: it’s been a year since the moment that I got tired of being full-time sedentary and started running1.
What’s in a year? 400 kilometres, or 30.000 calories, or 180 days out in the park, putting one foot in front of the other and trying to shake my previous lifestyle off my shoulders (and legs).
I’ve written this post to help people who are thinking about starting to run. It’s been one of the few habits that stuck with me and I really want more people to get up from their chairs and start moving, because it’s a life-changing decision.
I have to admit though, I’m not a pro athlete nor a doctor, so take my advice with a grain of salt.
Ready…
First things first: you’re gonna sweat. Don’t expect to look like a supermodel when running, and if you do, well, it’s not really working. I’ve got to terms with my looks while running. I call it “stroke chic”.
You’re not gonna lose weight just by running. You’re going to feel lighter and healthier, yes. You’re going to feel like you’re ready to conquer the world because of the whole endorphin rush. But you’re not losing your beer belly or muffin top without altering your eating habits. I know I didn’t get much slimmer (because I love good food).
Get good shoes. I’m a fan of the Asics GEL Kayano series, I have the 16 ladies model. Very sturdy shoe, perfect for all-around running. I’ve been wearing it for almost a year now and it shows no to very little damage.
Get good tunes. Sure, you can run while listening to Barry White, but why not opt for something more upbeat? My usual workout playlist is a crappy mainstream mix I’ve found on Spotify. It helps me keep my rhythm, and by now my brain is wired to go into running mode as soon as I start listening to it. If I’m not in the mood for mainstream music, I switch to my iTunes to listen to friskyPodcast for some proper mixes (thanks Graham for the recommendation).
Get coached. If you’re like me, you’re into RPGs and you love the quests and achievements mechanism. Both Adidas miCoach and Nike+ iPhone apps have coaching programmes you can use to set goals and motivate yourself. I started with Nike+ (they’ve got an excellent Walk to Run programme) and then I switched to miCoach, which offers perfect control over your training schedule.
Steady…
Be patient and build a solid base. Don’t expect to run a 5K just like that. At first you’re going to sweat blood – when I started, I could run non-stop for maybe 45 seconds before seeing black spots. Things get better though. Even if I sometimes stop running for 10 to 20 days when I’m busy, I know I can keep running for 25 to 30 minutes when I come back.
Find your rhythm. Don’t run for 45 minutes one day and 10 minutes the next one. Don’t start too fast, you’re gonna burn out. Keep a slow steady rhythm and only go faster when (if) your coaching programme says so. Don’t forget to rest between runs.
Run when you feel like to, but preferably early in the day or late in the afternoon. That’s especially aimed to beginners who live in warmer climates. If you keep running at noon under the scorching sun for days on end, things are going to get ugly. It’s dumb and it’s dangerous. Bonus: if you run in the morning, even if your day is crappy and unproductive, you will still have accomplished something. Keep that thought.
Go!
Don’t give up. Cliché? Maybe. Just DON’T GIVE UP. Even when you feel you’re going to throw up, when you’re sweating like a pig and feel you’re ready to faint, keep going. It’s years of sedentary life that scream in agony, not your body. Put one foot in front of the other and keep moving2.
After a while, it gets to you. I promise. I used to hate running, but nowadays, if I don’t run, I gaze longingly at the park I usually train every time I drive by. Really.
1 Well, running, fast shuffling, what’s the difference anyway?
2 That is, unless you have some heart condition or anything that could get worse with exercise. In that case, consult a doctor first.
About two months ago, I was invited by Basilis Kanonidis of creativeg.gr to speak in the second greek WordCamp, which would take place in Thessaloniki in early June.
At first, I reacted as I always react to new challenges: I won’t be good at it. I won’t know what to talk about. I will stutter and lose my train of thought. An ACME anvil will fall from the sky right on top of my head. You know, it’s a cruel thing, sabotaging yourself, but I’m trying to get over it.
Then I realised, there is something I want to talk about, something that disturbed me every time I checked the Wordpress premium themes marketplace. So I forced myself to steer clear of procrastination and work on this idea, and soon realised I really, really liked working on it after all. Plus, I’d get to visit beautiful Thessaloniki again after 11 years and have fun with some dear friends! What more to ask for?
Skip to 4th June morning.
Mild pre-presentation stress. Rehearsing the slides in my mind while brushing my teeth. Arrived early with Thanos, so we had the chance to break some glasses socialise a bit more. Marveled at the weird Thessaloniki weather – scorching heat, cloudy and then, pouring rain? Wow.
Then the event started, Basilis gave us an intro and Dimitris hopped on stage to talk about what he loves more, blogging. Since I was second in the speaking schedule, I tried to focus on what Dimitris was saying without worrying about that ACME anvil – I think I succeeded.
Then, it was my turn. And I talked about this:
(I hope it makes sense without my presenter notes. If not, leave a comment and we can discuss it over e-mail.)
Phew, done! I think it went well. Worry-free now, I sit comfortably to watch the next presentations.
Apostolos gave us some hints on good theme design practices from a blogger’s viewpoint. Thanos talked to us about typography (and his project WireframePlus – do YOU know what WireframePlus does?), Vasilis gave a very informative presentation on using Wordpress as an advanced CMS, Gerasimos introduced us to the pros and cons of Wordpress frameworks, Fotis decided that merging CodeIgniter and Wordpress would be fun so he told us to go for it, Basilis showed us how easy it’d be to setup a mini social network using BuddyPress, while George Kanellopoulos from Microsoft gave two presentations, on Wordpress & Microsoft Web Platform and on HTML 5 that I’m sure many found interesting.
It was excellent.
I love the vibe of this kind of events – many savvy people in a room, talking about what they like best and socializing, networking, having plain stupid fun. If I changed one thing, it’d be the fact that I didn’t talk with as many people as I wanted to, as I’m kinda shy – next time, if you see me around drop by and say hi!
These two days were such a welcome break from my routine – walking around the city discovering places (and ruining my feet – damn you, strappy sandals), having good food, being lazy in Navarinou Square, gazing at the lovely Roman Forum view from our hotel window, walking by the sea, all lovely and a great start to my summer.
Thanks to everyone involved and special thanks to Thanos, Yiannis, Gerasimos and Eleni for showing us around the city. You rock, peeps.
Here’s to a great third WordCamp next year!
