Daddy's Little Girl

This morning I did something completely uncharacteristic. It all started when I rolled over in bed at 6:20 this morning. I didn’t feel completely awake, I wasn’t bursting with energy, but what I did next I will never understand: I got out of bed, put on my sneakers and went for a jog. I was in full run by 6:30am. By 7:00 I was sweaty and I had a shower. It is now 9:20am I’ve had a run, shower, orange juice, cereal with berries, done the dishes, read and now I have no idea what I’m going to do with my day. The only possible conclusion I can come up with is I’ve had some sort of mental break.

I am not an athlete. I think I should say that so no one has any misconceptions about how I spend my time. I have been devoted to the idea that I am not an athlete for my entire life. I have played the part so thoroughly that I cannot ride a bike. Anyone who is eighteen years old and still cannot ride a bike is definitely not an athlete.

My hand-eye coordination was not the best as a kid and recess was my absolute least favorite time of the day in elementary school. I couldn’t wait to go to middle school so I didn’t have to deal with the fifteen minutes a day where I was expected to hone the coordination that seemed like it would never materialize. I wasn’t aware that they just substituted “recess” for “gym class.”

By high school I was looking to turn a new leaf. I played field hockey and lacrosse and I learned something else that I hated about physical activity. Running. The thirty-minute runs, the “you didn’t catch the ball” sprints the fartleks – yes they felt as disgusting as they sound – all of them were a punishment.

My Daddy is a runner. I’m sure he could sign up for a marathon, not worry about training too much and still hold his own on race day. Sometimes on weekends he’s had his orange juice, run, shower and Wheaties all before I’ve even gotten down the stairs. Am I really my father’s daughter? I feel like something’s changed. Without the external pressure of a team or an internal pressure of expectation I have been running fairly consistently over the past weeks. I’m not about to break any records or streaks of any kind, but I keep coming back, which is a step forward.

I think the difference now is I’ve realized that running is like knitting. Stay with me. They are both individual activities – duh – that only require you to want to put in the work to be as good or great as you decide you can be. I believe that everyone is a knitter, and I’ve read – and doubted – that everyone is a runner. The reason why not everyone knits and runs is because they don’t want to.

Another similarity is that they only require basic knowledge and equipment to start. What do you need to knit? Yarn, needles, instructions. What do you need to run? Shoes, water, shorts. That makes both of these activities seem tame. The second you feel comfortable with the basics, there are tons of other things you can do with those basic ideas. Cables, color work, steeks, double knitting and knitting in the round are all optional techniques that some people pursue and others don’t. Turn over rates, cadences, trail running, marathons, six minute miles and interval training are options for runners, but some people just stick with their morning jog.

Although, the simplicity seems to be wasted. As simple as these two activates essentially are, most people mess with them and make them as complex as they can be. I dare you to find someone who has been knitting for any significant amount of time who does not own double pointed needles, cable needles, circular needles, stitch markers, stitch counters, stitch holders, a knitting bag, needle holders, or all of the above. Runners, who only really need a pair of shoes, seem to have tons of little gadgets and tips and workout plans and I’ve yet to see anyone at the gym without an iPod in hand.

I admit I feel a little ridiculous running, like I'm way out of my league. So I do what any normal person would do to combat this: I read about it. There's one guy who must be reading my mind because he knows exactly how I feel, and another who knows it's possible to run without eating any meat for fuel.