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This is the tale of a dreamer. Let's call him Miles. Every day has been a monotonous routine for Miles. Wake up, shower, shave. Go to the office, work, wait. Write some code, talk, type. Go home, sit, surf. His vocabulary consists mostly of esoteric acronyms and programming terms. Yes, this guy is a computer geek. But something is about to change. This is his story.
Hello, my name is Miles. I woke up today and realized something. I will try to relate this discovery to you as best I can. This will be somewhat harder than first appears, given my lack of experience with prose. Programmers, in general, try to express logical statements as concisely as possible. But not always so elegantly. Unfortunately, this does not prevent me from rambling on. Computer geeks can go on and on, which reminds me of a story... oh never mind. On to the business at hand.
March 20, 2000 - Monday
Day 1: My realization.
The Internet is supplanting many of life's nuisances in the real world. Like, shopping for clothes, music, movies, and food. Paying bills, loans, and everybody else. Then it came to me. What is one of my limitations as a computer geek? And don't even mention getting a date. That is painfully obvious. No, I am talking about physical sports. My profession is famous for its aversion to activities where speed is not measured in megahertz. But, what can the Internet do to improve my athletic skills? Well, that is what I am going to find out. And what better time to attempt it than 2000. An Olympic year. From what I have heard, this year's games are being held in Sydney, Australia in the month of September. That should give me plenty of time to catch up with the rest of the world. Now, what to do first. This is tough. I will start my research tomorrow.
March 21, 2000 - Tuesday
Research. research. research.
That's what I should have done. But didn't. Procrastination is another one of my traits. But, why waste the day. I will use this time to state my assumptions. Any good programmer will tell you that 'stating the problem' is the first step to solving it. To keep things short, here goes. Need to get in shape, need to develop dexterity, need to somehow get down to Australia. And the big question is, 'in what sport will I compete?' And the answer is a most definite 'Track & Field.' It is the sport of the ancient Greek Olympics. And after all, how hard could running around in circles really be?
March 22, 2000 - Wednesday
Research: Getting in shape.
A great source of information on the Internet are message boards. When runners congregate at one of these boards, it is amazing how much useful knowledge is produced. Their messages range anywhere from a variety of injuries to a bunch of people running their first races. And not too far away is the guy who is having irritation in all the wrong places (as if there is any right place). After that, it is reassuring to read about the marathoners who just started running last week. Apparently, it is very easy to train minimally (e.g. 10 miles a week), and still be able to finish a marathon. With that in mind, I decided to start running. Tomorrow.
March 23, 2000 - Thursday
The first run of Miles.
From what I have gathered in my message board research, it is advisable to see a doctor before making drastic changes in one's exercise regiment. So I did. I believe his name is Dr. Nick. Hi everybody. Everything checked out ok, so away we go. Throwing caution to the wind, I decided not to buy any running "equipment" yet. That's research for another day. I already own a pair of tennis shoes, and some old shorts and shirts. The temperature has been a little brisk in New England, so I added a sweatshirt to the mix. Out the door I went, and running I was. Then, running I wasn't. In the end, this experience had helped to clarify many of my assumptions. I won't go into details. Let me put it this way. I won't be running a marathon next week.
March 24, 2000 - Friday
A moderate run.
The first run was an embarrassment. The next step? Assess my skills. But it has to be somewhere off the roads, at a time when no one else would be around. I decided against running in the woods at midnight. My next alternative was going to the local high school track at 6 A.M. My preparation for this venture was to search the Internet for track race distances. My investigation came up empty. Obviously track & field basics are something to be learned from experience, and perhaps message boards. But, I went to the track anyway. When I got there, I noticed the start and finish lines were fairly easy to find. However, it depends on what race one wants to start and finish. For me, the 100m dash seemed like a good start. With my digital watch ready, I started my sprint. For the record, here are the results.
| 100 meter dash |
| Miles (me) | 21 seconds |
| Tortoise crawling in outside lane | 20.9 seconds (it won by a hare) |
Week ending March 31, 2000 (Friday)
Building a base: a week of falling down.
Last week was like a baby's first steps. So, it's no surprise that I continue to stumble. This week's agenda: get the equipment and organize a training plan. After checking a few online sports stores, it became clear that buying shoes was a complicated endeavor. Pronation was a popular buzz word. A good site for this research is RunnersWorld.com. With all the appropriate foot-related questions answered, I decided on a cross between stability and cushioned shoes.
The shoes were estimated to take a week to arrive. In the meantime, the training commenced with the old tennis shoes. Once again taking advice from message boards, my training plan began to materialize. For a couple weeks, run every other day for 30 minutes. The half hour may include some walking, if necessary. Or in other words, the walking may include some running, if necessary.
The plan in place, I set out on Monday to conquer the world. The weather was pleasant, and the run was steady (with an occasional pause). The town was nice enough to set up some rest stops, or as I like to call them, sidewalks. On Wednesday, the run was similarly enjoyable. But, by Friday, the pain started to take effect. It was a delayed reaction, and not terribly bad, but enough to notice. Then it dawned on me. Runners are supposed to stretch. Great. More research to procrastinate doing.
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