Play Nice

On the train this morning, I glanced over at my neighbor's magazine and saw an article titled "Play Nice." I suddenly noticed that a certain semantic nuance exists between what is surely meant by this phrase, and what its grammar actually means. No doubt, parents the world over who lob this part-time plea, part-time threat at their children, mean what is properly worded as "play nicely," that is, be nice to others when you play. "Play nice," though, at least to my mind, denotes something just slightly different. It tells children to play (or act out) the quality of niceness -- as if playing the attribute of niceness on stage. It's the difference between telling children how to act, and telling them how to be. Not "be nice to others," but "pretend that you're nice when interacting with others." We might even put the word "nice" in quotation marks itself: "play 'nice,' children." Rather than a quality to embody, it is something to mimic.

Still, go forth and say "play nice," because everyone knows what you mean. I tend to complicate things.

Running Man

As some of you know, I have taken up running. Sometime in May, I decided I wanted to get back into an exercise routine, get fit, continue the weight loss I started last year, and challenge myself while doing it. I decided on running because I honestly couldn't think of any activity I found more challenging. I'm a big man, one who has weighed as much as 354 lbs., and one who still weighs close to 300. That's a tremendous amount of body weight to come crashing down on my knees with each step, but I decided to try it anyway. And I thought it would be fun to set a goal for myself that I never thought I could reach: a 5k race (3.1 miles).

My friend Holly told me about this program she had started called "Couch to 5k in 9 weeks." It started me off slowly, jogging for 60 seconds, then walking for 90 seconds, and continuing to alternate like that for 20 minutes. That was enough for me, at first. I hadn't run for even 60 seconds in probably close to 10 years, not since I had to run for high school gym class.

Gradually, the program increased the length of time spent jogging until finally, I was jogging for 7 or 8 minutes at a shot. Eventually, the alternation of jogging and walking was actually counterproductive for my legs. Frankly, my legs hurt when I run. But if I keep running, they start to get used to it, and it's not so bad. Always stopping to walk only made my legs hurt worse, to the point that I couldn't keep up the running portions. So, around the middle of July, I scrapped the program altogether and decided to just run, listen to my music and run as far as I can, then gradually increase the distance.

I am now running 1.75 miles, and I plan to increase it to 2 miles starting next week. I still run at a slow pace, about 4 miles an hour, which is really more of a brisk walk, or a really, painfully slow jog. But it's what I can do right now. If I try to run any faster, I can't go as far, and the goal is 3.1 miles, not any certain time. If it takes me 45 minutes to run a 5k, then so be it. The 1.75 miles right now takes me 26 minutes. Just 2-1/2 months ago, running for 60 seconds made me tired. Now I'm running for 26 minutes. Again, it's not a good pace, only going 1.75 miles, but I'm proud of it. I've never run that far, or for that long, in my life. Every progression is new territory for me, a step closer to a goal that for has long seemed impossible.

Today I registered for the race -- my first ever 5k race. It'll take place on September 28 in Center City, down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Sunday morning. I'll get a number and join as many as 2,000 runners, along with another 4,000 walkers (it's a run plus "family fun walk").

Accomplishing these seemingly simple goals has invigorated me, I must say. Now I have other athletic endeavors in mind. I was thinking that maybe I'd spring for some swimming lessons, actually learn good technique, and start training for a triathlon -- running, swimming, and cycling.

It's amazing what your body is capable of doing if you work at it, stay motivated, take it slowly. If I hadn't told some friends, right at the beginning, that I was starting to run and train for a 5k, I may not have kept with it. But a few friends immediately jumped on the idea and volunteered to run with me. That was motivation. That was accountability. But now I don't even need it. The activity has become its own reward. Doing what I didn't think I could do has changed my outlook on life. I'm becoming more willing to take some risks. It's like a personal evolution.

I'd encourage everyone to try something they don't think they can do. Maybe you're right, and you'll fail. But maybe you're not giving yourself enough credit, either. In any case, it's better to try.