It’s early in June, but in Arizona summer has arrived in full force with temperatures reaching scorching highs near the 110 degree mark so what better time to pickup the hobby of running. Why am I testing my legs, lungs, and will power at the worst possible time of year? I’m not sure, but it is teaching me a lot about myself. This year unlike most I’ve been able to hold on to the practice of a regular (semi-regular at times) workout program. From situps/pushups to yoga and now running I keep mixing it up to make things fun. Usually I’d try and rely on other people to have a go with me and ultimately blame the other half for my lack of motivation. I’ve started to realize if I want to make something happen I need to put things into my own hands.

This time around I’ve done just that. I picked myself up some Nike running shoes and Nike+ sensor, which his probably half the reason running is seeming like a good option. Anything Apple makes is solid and I’ve been a Nike shoe lover since I can remember. At one point in time I had a Nike logo shaved on the back of my head. Somewhere there is picture proof, but that was before digital so who knows where that photo went. For some reason my mom and dad were totally supportive of the whole thing, which isn’t really shocking, looking back they were supportive of every activity I got into. For this event my mom was in charge of the razor and my dad, without my knowledge, sent Nike a letter and picture telling them how much of a fan I was and a few weeks later Nike surprised me with a whole kit of stuff. As a 10 year old that was pretty much the most amazing thing having a huge corporate company sending a personal letter with goodies to a kid just because he loved their shoes.

The Nike+ system is really spot on for people who love tracking data and seeing statistics. As soon as my run is done I sync up and check out the fancy graphs and running data. I will complain about their excessive use of Flash, which is spotty at best on the mac. They did put in the extra effort to make a mobile version that works perfect with the iphone/ipad. For me, I want to run just so I can see the numbers of where I stand and my progression from run to run. Despite the sore muscles, weather, and getting up at 6am to avoid as much of the heat as possible it is a revitalizing experience.

With a few runs under my belt the rust is starting to wear off. I haven’t ran just to run since elementary school. If I remember correctly I was quite a bit faster then as well. Low 6 minute or high 5 miles seemed like the standard (assuming the PE coach had taken the time to accurately measure the distance of our “field”), but after my first two mile runs I’ve clocked in at 9min each time. Just getting outside and doing something is the driving force for me right now. Coming from a very active childhood life revolved around sport seasons and now as an adult I have to fit in time for activities like running.

So far I’m staying on target and look to keep it that way. Running is something I can do on my own so it’s an easy test to my new philosophy of making myself responsible for the things I want to do. No more dragging friends into exercise plans or potential dream projects unless both parties have the same passion, but for now I’ll be flying solo and see how far my legs take me.