Sipping Starbucks: An Exploratory Session featuring Rayla and Brittany: Jogging

Topic: Do something Portland-y

Brittany asked me to do something that is “Portland-esque” and chronicle the experience. There are many unique, Portland-y things to do around here, including Multunomah Falls, visit Powell’s , or shop at a farmer’s market. I would have been more than happy to do any of these relatively low-impact activities, but since Matt is gone and I only feel comfortable driving to Fred Meyer, the laundry mat, and work by myself, this limited my possible activities. So what did I come up with? I decided to go for a jog. While this is not a Portland exclusive thing, Portland is known for its outdoorsy people. And hey, only Portland would think it’s a good idea to have a relay race starting halfway up Mt. Hood and continuing all the way to the Pacific Ocean. And, as it turns out, it was raining (WHOA!), so I ran in the rain, which I would say definitely qualifies being Portland-esque.

On to the experience. Let me be clear. I HATE running (well, in my case, jogging, but same thing, really). I HATE it. Everything about it. Especially if I am doing it outside on the concrete. There is no “runners high” for me. It’s more like a “Sara why the heck did you do this to yourself hate.” But because it was the only thing I could come up with, and let’s face it, I need to do more exercise, I found myself heading out into the rain for a jog.

Let me explain why I hate running so much. I have a lot going against me. I have patella femoral syndrome, which means my quad muscles don’t hold my patella in place and it can slide around grinding away at bone cartilage. Yay. I also have extremely high arches and run flat footed, which causes all kinds of shin and calf pain. I have tried adjusting my stride so I’m not running flat footed, but nothing has worked. Give an elliptical machine- or an inside track like UI’s rec center- any day of the week so my knees can forgive me.

I didn’t try to make any world records today, I just decided a nice mile or so would be good for my first run in, oh, five months. Unfortunately, I managed to find a road that took me down from the bluff to the river level. I had no idea at the time how long this road would be, but I thought it would be a nice workout to run both down and uphill. Yeah, bad decision. This road went about a quarter mile or so downhill. Shockingly, the only way to get back up a bluff is to run back uphill. Fun times.

As bad as the run was, while I was running a few errands this morning, I just so happened to buy a Starbucks. This is also a Portlandy thing do to that I enjoy eons more than running, so I at least got to do that! And while I write this, I am enjoying a Widmer Hefeweizen (with lemon, of course), which was brewed about five miles from my current position. I’m leading quite the Portland lifestyle today!