Exercising

I have begun working out again for a few weeks now.  I am not doing anything serious, to be honest; I go to the school’s recreational center every Monday and try to get some running done after I get back home from downtown when I can.  Being a former cross-country runner that I am, I like running; I would not have stuck wit it to begin with if I did not like doing so.  Cross-country is a strange sports among the running sports; you run through the trails cut through the forest, and unlike the glorious paved tracks that adorn the stadiums and asphalts on the road race courses, you run through the dirt and over the hills and down the much-trodden paths that is often not all that safe or even coherent (without markers throughout the paths).  Frankly, I liked it—the courses made everyone miserable, sure, but I felt a certain rush in running through the woods, minding the hills and barren tree roots as I dodge the fellow runners on the track.  I should write another post regarding this; it needs reminiscing.

Funnily enough, I began exercising on the week of spring break.  Not too many people were around to watch me embarrass myself at the gym if I started then… just kidding.  I went mostly on a whim, waking up on Tuesday and realizing I had nothing to do after work… so I went to work with running shorts and some clothes to change and went to school.  I came home sore and tired.  Same thing last Monday between work and the evening class, and this one, too.  Needless to say, I would very much like to sleep on the chair right now.

But after I recover, I usually have more energy than when I lead a sedentary lifestyle.  I may have read about it earlier somewhere, perhaps on a Men’s Health website or RealAge, but I also speak from experience.  Should I go into the details on why that would be the case?  I would, but if you really wanted to know, you would be at some exercise or biology or health website right now, not here.  My understanding is that exercising increases the mitochondria count in your body—the cell part that converts sugar into energy that cells can use.  Hence, I, who have been exercising, feel more alert and energetic than before… or something like that.  To be honest, the boost is rather minor, as I have been relying heavily on caffeine  as of late and I was never all that energetic to begin with.

Compared to how I used to be before I started working out, though, I feel healthier.  I feel that I can do more things and do not feel as unwieldy and lazy.  I think that is what counts—and what you look for—when you exercise.

Now, I need to learn to harness this energy more efficiently than now…