Did I develop a sense of guilt about not running!? #66

In the beginning, I never even thought about it.
That I would feel guilty about not running.

The reason I started running was because a senior member ordered me to "Run!" as part of my badminton training.
I was in the badminton club, not the track and field club.

Until six years ago, I participated in the Kanagawa Prefecture industrial league matches for ten years. Even though we were in the lower division, I was constantly causing trouble for my seniors.

When a match came down to the third game after we had each taken one, I would almost always be exhausted and the match would end.
That was true for singles, and for doubles as well.

In doubles especially, they would target me specifically, hitting the shuttle left, right, front, and back until I was gasping for air, leading to a truly pathetic loss.

To overcome that, they told me to build up my stamina!
The seniors from the Showa era just kept saying, "Run!" It wasn't advice; it was an order.

I still remember the first day I ran.

First of all, I didn't know what to wear to go running. It was fine that I put on my badminton gear. But then, what shoes should I wear?

At the time, I had several pairs of leather shoes, but I didn't own any sneakers.
I had just broken in a new pair of badminton shoes, so I didn't throw away the old ones and wore those instead.

It's funny, isn't it? Badminton shoes are for the gymnasium, after all.

Anyway, I managed to put on the shoes.
But it took a long time even after that.
I was fidgeting and felt too embarrassed to step out of the front door.

I finally started running, but I think it was around the 10-minute mark when my knees started hurting terribly, and I stopped after about 15 minutes.

I was surprised myself.
I couldn't believe I couldn't run that much.
I was 38 years old then.

Even though 15 minutes was the best I could do at first.
A week after that, I became able to run 71km.

In the midst of all this, I'm now at a point where I feel uneasy if I don't run—it's a strange, almost uncomfortable sensation.

Yesterday, Monday, was a day off, so it's fine to rest.

But today, Tuesday, since I usually go for a morning jog, not running feels uncomfortable, or rather, I feel a bit of guilt for not running, wondering if I should be doing it.

At times like that, reading this article by "Citizen Runner 20th Year" made me feel much better.

Fortunately, my sore throat has started to heal.
However, the fatigue from running 71km last week is still lingering. A body manufactured in 1971 doesn't recover right away.

And I just decided to do a threshold run after work tomorrow, Wednesday.

152 days left until the 20th Shonan International Marathon!

Rest days are what build potential, so I'll hold my head high and take another day off from running today. I'll take two days off.

I hope I can do my best on tomorrow evening's threshold run.🙏