Jogging

In the summer of 2005, after a routine physical, my cholesterol results were unfortunately high. My doctor, a very cautious sort, immediately put me on Lipitor, then after a few months switched me over to Crestor. But as much as medication, I also needed to get more exercise. I've never been big on exercise, multiple attempts throughout my life always ending after no more than a couple of weeks. So, in addition to a weekly visit to the YMCA, I started jogging at work.

This was a good thing, as that December I was diagnosed with Diabetes, making it even more important to increase my level of physical activity and lose some weight. At my heaviest, I was about 25 pounds over my ideal weight and ideal BMI of 25.

Fortunately, there is a reasonably nice locker room in our building so the logistics of preparation and clean up were easily managed. As far as location, the nice thing about working in downtown DC is that there is an excellent, picturesque place to jog within a block of my office: the National Mall. My route is marked in white on the picture below and in blue on the map.

I start at the corner of the National Gallery of Art and go clockwise or counter-clockwise around the Mall, passing by most of the Smithsonian museums, some great monuments and lots of lots of tourists. The total distance is 1.81 miles which takes me about 23 minutes.

I don't typically look forward to the jog but I have managed to distract myself enough to keep it up every summer. As always, gadgets have been my main distraction. In '05 and '06, after trying an armband, I wore my 3rd gen Ipod in a belt pack. The Ipod bounced so much I had to put it in the pouch upside down to keep the headphone cord from pulling out. This worked well, but the Ipod was still heavy and the belt a bit uncomfortable. Plus, the bouncing would eventually destroy my Ipod.

This summer, I changed to the most awesome mp3 player for jogging ever made: the 2nd gen Ipod Shuffle. This sucker is fabulous. It clips directly onto my shirt and I can't feel its weight at all. It holds 250 songs, enough for an entire summer of jogging without hearing the same song twice, on a flash card so it's not damaged by bouncing. It has actual buttons rather than a click wheel so it's easier to use while jogging. All in all, it's been a big improvement. For the record, I put mostly energetic, upbeat music on my playlist: the B-52's, the Bangles, the Go-Gos, Rush, REM, Pat Benatar.

Recently, I added a heart rate monitor watch to reinforce that the heavy thumping in my chest is actually my heart racing. It's redundant info, to be sure, but again, I'm all about the distractions. (As an added bonus, if I have a heart attack, the EMS guys will be able to use the watch rather than take my pulse, thus saving themselves precious seconds as they zip me into a body bag.) I did have a pedometer for a time but it fell off my shoe. I'm sure I'll pick up another one at some point.

That's my jogging story. I've been happily surprised that I've been able to keep it up so far. I still have a good amount of weight to lose but my cholesterol and blood sugar have been under control for two years now. What's more, while I don't really look forward to jogging, I always feel really good once I'm done. That, plus the ever impending threat of an end to my existence if I stop, is enough to keep me going.