Confessions of the lonely runner

In addition to discovering I like barre classes, I also like to kayak with my husband

I am a lonely runner, but not the loneliest. I prefer to run by myself unlike my many friends who are in running groups or charity groups like Team in Training. I want to run on a whim. I don’t want it to be planned. I don’t want to follow someone else’s pace. I don’t want to share this therapy with others. I enjoy the solitude, the ability to think, observe, sing along to my music. I compose more poems and stories while running than at any other time. Unfortunately, the amazing prose is more fleet than my feet – by the time I finish a run, shower, snack, and sit down, the perfect rhyme, rhythm, and details elude me. Still, the act of composing while running is cathartic. Sadly, I lost that outlet for much of the past two years when I was struck by the evil high-arch aging monster known as plantar fasciitis, so I had to find other ways to stay fit.Plantar fasciitis is inflammation of the plantar fascia, which are the thick bands of tissue that connect the heel bone to the toes. It’s more prevalent among people with high arches. Maybe plantar fasciitis is payback for years bragging about my small, thin, high-arched Barbie Doll feet. Generally, it is self-treatable and relents within a few months. Mine, however, has persisted for two years. It started in the left heel then moved to the right, perhaps because I compensated to deal with the pain in the left. I’ve had shots of cortisone. I’ve tried physical therapy. I wear inserts in my shoes. I’ve rolled my aching heels over frozen water bottles. I wear a Strassburg sock for sleeping to hold my foot taut. I got a foot rocker to stretch my Achilles and fascia. I stopped running (insert sad face here).I stopped running. My creative outlet dried up, but I had to substitute with something else to fight the effects of aging and the diet that follows an empty nest. I tried yoga. I tried the exercise bike and weights in my basement. I tried swimming laps – which I absolutely find to be the most boring and torturous form of exercise around – except during pregnancy (see previous blog about that blissful experience at http://wp.me/p7y7FG-32). I was saved from bathing caps and ear plugs by the arrival of a new fitness center in my town.The Dailey Method promotes spine alignment through its two forms of fitness – barre and cycle. It was started by Jill Dailey in San Francisco in 2000. Cycle is similar to familiar trademarked Spin classes. It is high intensity stationary cycling to strong beats involving hill work, flats, tension increases, and sweat for 40 minutes followed by 20 minutes of floor and barre stretching. Barre classes combine dance, yoga, kinesiology, and pilates both on the floor and at the barre for full body toning and fitness. Although excited to have found two forms of exercise that wouldn’t stress my aching feet, I secretly thought I might hate it.Classes at the Dailey Method are, well, classes – classes full of other women. For the lonely runner, this was a bit intimidating. You mean I would have to socialize while working out? Count me out. But I was desperate to escape the pool, so I signed up for a trial membership. My very first day there, I encountered a familiar face. We hadn’t been friends per say, but 16 years ago, she had been a smiling face at my children’s elementary school. We continued to run into one another and have developed a great friendship. Also during my first week of classes, I met a woman who has an office across the hall from mine, yet we had never met.I loved the workouts, and I had to admit to myself, I was enjoying the social aspect as well. I see neighbors and old friends, rendezvous with my best friend, and make new friends, including some generations below me. Even if many of these new friendships exist only within the confines of the fitness studio, I’m happy every single time I see those new friends there. Those friendships motivate me to keep going.I had another shot of cortisone about a month ago. My feet feel pretty good right now, although still shoot me reminders of their vulnerability. The weather is calling me to run again. I got a new hybrid bike a few months ago, so I’m riding as much as I can. I’m walking, gardening, hiking, and kayaking. I thought about the negatives of working out inside when the outdoors beckon, but I still need my dose of the Dailey Method. It will complement my outdoor life. Besides, I need the support system and friendship it has added to the repertoire of the social workout butterfly formerly known as the lonely runner.