squats & trots

I should clarify the use of the word ‘trots’ versus just the word running. First, and most importantly, it rhymes with squats and gives me a catchy name… Also, as it turns out, my running form suffered post accident and my friends entertained themselves with my scurrying/ trotting/ Frankenstein shuffle when I was first attempting to run again. I used one leg more than the other and the bum leg would always hit the other one. As with all good friends, they don’t let me forget these moments and in their minds no pace will ever upgrade me from a scurry or trot.

I can hold a 4:50/ km pace now and it feels like I am going so fast that I borderline lose control going around corners. No these are not hairpin turns but your average street corners with pedestrians diving out of my way. If you can’t visual a 4:50 pace then just know that I am kidding about everything after that.

I used to get paid to analyze gait and teach running form and now I am rubbing elbows with the wheezers, the newspaper readers, and the feet slammers of the treadmill world. This is when I tell great stories of my past but my friends just laugh and ask me “why run, anyways” as they flex their muscles and compare (lack of) body fat.

Lifting weights is empowering and exhilarating but the runners high is a different breed. You have no equipment to push, it is just you pushing yourself. There can be no satisfactory slam of weights at the end of a set; it is a constant effort rewarded by the sounds of heavy breathing and footsteps responding to pavement. Sometimes running feels more rewarding because I literally feel like I got somewhere. Maybe that is illogical but I never promised logic here… 🙂

Whether you are pumping iron or pumping your arms, you got your workout in.

And whatever speed you move at, it all starts with a good trot.