Sitting for so long:
- Puts pressure on my sit-bones and sacrum and the muscles and nerves around them. When I run, these areas ache and are so tight that over the course of a longer run I'm feeling like I can hardly keep moving my legs.
- Slows my venous return... my lower legs retain fluid, which is slow to dissipate.
- Burns hardly any calories; my weight is slowly climbing, which puts a heavier, slower load on my legs.
- Uses time I could be using for training. Really: Do I do the training, or do I read about it? Do I train, or do I write about it?
And I suspect the computer itself, or rather my absorption with its monitor screen, causes me to space out in some way -- alters my brain waves or something. I get to feeling sleepy and mentally sluggish. And then I don't even want to train.
I have such exciting hopes and goals: qualify for Boston, run an ultra (or more than one); thru-hike the Appalachian trail, a newly-forming plan (based on a lifelong fantasy) that I haven't mentioned here yet, until now.
But I'm not going to get to any of it if I don't get out from in front of the computer.
But the computer is where I get all my information, and my inspiration in the form of my friends and their stories, which are remarkably similar to mine.
5 comments:
Ellie, your post and entire blog are absolutely awesome and very inspiring! I have said a prayer for you that you make your Boston qualifying time. I have been blessed enough to run it 3 times, having qualified by only 24 seconds the first time, and it is truly one of the greatest thrills any runner can experience.
If you get a chance, please visit my running web site, Faithful Soles. I have a categorized and searchable running Blog Database on there and would appreciate it if you would link your blog to it. I know many of our members would enjoy reading about what you are doing. Thanks.
I have been thinking the exact same thing lately. My hips and lower back have really been giving me problems and I've pretty much decided it's the computer. I sit longer than I should. I don't sit properly. My chair is probably all wrong for me. Etc..... I may have to limit my time and see what happens.
Now, as for your goals. It has long been a dream of mine to hike the Appalachian Trail. I'd love to do the whole thing though don't know if I could find the time. But I'd at least like to do some of it. I was thinking for a while of hiking a section of it every year until I got through the whole thing. Eh, who knows.
I refuse to be part of the problem. Therefore, I have nothing inspirational to say. NOW GET OUT THERE AND TRAIN!!!!
I have also always dreamed of a thru hike on the AT. I"ve read every book - always thought that as a homeschoolinng family, we'd do this with the kids. That, plus bike around Ireland, and a bunch of other things.
Well, here we are with the oldest graduating next year. There's this little nagging problem with our plan -- the whole thing about husband taking 5 months off work to do it!
I have the same problems and try to limit my time to no more than 2 hours in one sitting. That said, I can still end up sitting in front of one for 8-10 hours a day since my consulting involves using a computer ...
I wish there was a way it would turn itself off and say "you can't use me now because you're supposed to be out training!"
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