Running

The introduction

Running is a great thing, they say, so if you run daily in the mornings that's just great! You are in a shape, you do healthy living and you get lots of benefits with just running in the morning let that be 30 minutes run. It's good for you and your cardiovascular system, as well as your muscles and every organ system that you have, I mean, a little bit of morning cardio, such as running, brings you so much benefits that you can't even imagine. And that is just great. The thing is, it's kind of difficult to get up early on the morning and run for some time until going to work or university or whatever. You just want to sleep in the morning and not be bothered, but it's necessary, let me tell you that. So, just remember, that you really have to wake up and run for a little bit for your own good and wellbeing.

Well, there's this thing that I kind of have a thing for dogs, I mean, I am not comfortable with them running around or whatever, so I just hate I'd when I see a dog without its owner holding him with a rope, you know, and there are so many homeless dogs in Tbilisi that you can't even imagine and they roam around and wander and do anything they want and I don't like them at all, they disgust me. However, it's just those dogs wandering in the streets of Tbilisi in the early mornings. Well, technically, they are used to people walking around and stuff like that, and they don't usually bark you or maybe even bite you, but still, one can't really know what they are going to do in that very moment. Maybe they won't like you and decide to scare you off or something. So usually I just try not to meet them and take other turns or other roads or whatever, but not everytime I manage to do that, of course.. So, what I'm saying is that when someone decides to run in the mornings in Tbilisi it's always this thing that whether or not he will be able to get away from dogs and stuff like that, you know. Well, of course, some people don't care about the dogs, I mean, they just ignore them, or love them and caress them when they see them. For example, there wad this one time recently that I just remembered, we were in a grocery store and this girl was waiting in a line with us to buy some sausage and, guess what she needed or for? She wanted it to feed a homeless dog outside this grocery store and they said that the dog was looking bad and it was not very well or something, so this girl bought some sausage for the dog and fed it and I don't know, but when I looked at that dog it looked pretty well to me. In addition, I had this teacher at school, who just loved helping homeless dogs and couldn't resist not to buy food for them when she saw any of them in the streets or something and she always bought some things for those dogs and fed them and she was happy of that. I mean, she waqs pleased that she did something good and helped some thing, it was part of her daily life, you know. Well, people need to do those kinds of things more often, I guess, because that's what makes them wonderful and they get some purpose in life and they feel useful and stuff like that, you know, if you ask me.

Anyways, it's like a feeling of doing something in the mornings, when it's all new day and stuff like that and you just have this energy that you don't know what to do with it and need to take it somewhere, so you just decide to run in the mornings. It's such a great feeling when you finish your run and you're like free of something, I mean you are free of your extra energy and you feel more energised and want to do so many things and you are like that the whole day.

So when my sister came to Georgia, she was all going here and there and it was this summer when she decided to run in the mornings and she ran for a few times. It was 6 in the morning when she used to wake up and run for half an hour or so and then she would come back and sleep. It was kind of hilarious. So, that's when she used to ask me to go and run with her in the mornings, but I still had some lectures at the university and I wouldn't be able to run in the mornings at 6 a.m. and then go to the lectures at 10 a.m., because I wouldn't sleep after running, I guess, and then when I got to the lectures I would be sleepy and wouldn't really concentrate on the subject and would be a total bust, I guess. Well, at least that was my theory, and since I haven't tried running in the morning and then going to the university, my theory was left like that, I mean, maybe it could have been better to run in the mornings and then go to the lectures, who knows?! Maybe I will try that the next time and see, whether or not it is better, because there are lots of people, who run in the mornings and then go to the lectures or work and they are just fine, in fact, ,they are better than fine, you know, I mean, they are in a good shape, they are energised and they live healthy and they don't really waste their mornings with sleep and stuff like that and they breathe kind of fresh morning air and all the other things, you know, so that it's really a good idea to run in the mornings, I mean, what better thing can you do in the early morning? Of course, sleep is an essential thing, too, no one can argue with that, but you should go to sleep on time and sleep 7 or 8 hours (that's the normal time for adults) and then wake up and run or jog and then go to work or university or whatever it is that you are going and if you are not going anywhere, you can just come home and relax or sit in a park or something like that. Life becomes just happier when you get energised in the morning. Then all day seems pleasing and happier, than it usually is. And you feel pleased , too.

So, I just started running in the morning, of course, I couldn't really run as early as 6 a.m., but I tried at 8 a.m. and went out. At first I was walking, as I have read somewhere in the Internet that firstly you should warm up and then start running. So 5 minute warm up was okay and then you could start running. Well, at first it seemed easy, however then it started feeling a little tiring as I hadn't had any running done anytime earlier. So I walked and ran and walked and so on and so forth, because I couldn't run all the way without stopping for a walk. It was like 1 minute run and 1 minute walk, I guess, or even more of walking. I did something like half an hour of walking-running and then came back home. That was my first day of running and it was kind of alright for the first day. I felt really energised, if you want to know the truth, however I didn't really do much of a running. Well, after some time though I felt really sleepy and I wanted to sleep, but I changed my mind.

My running history

Well, my running hasn't started there on that day or something like that, you know. Rather, it started really early, I mean, some years ago. That was when I was exercising in summer in 2014 and then we went to Mariamjvari and we used to run and jog there in the mornings, I mean, there were us and my cousins, well, in fact, we were visiting our cousins there as they were spending their summer there and they invited us to be with them, so we went up there _ me and my brother and we stayed there for a week or so. And my cousin said that it would be good to run every morning, as the nature was great then and we would get fit and live healthy and we would exercise and, in fact, I was trying to lose weight at that time, so that the idea of running in the mornings was just great to me, too, and I agreed to that, besides, I was awake really early every day, so it would have been no problem. In fact, sometimes she would just sleep in and I was awake and I did't really want to go out without her, because it waas my first time there and I didn't really know the roads or where to jog or things like that, so when she slept in, I would just jog in the yard or something. Then her sister would wake up early and we would run outside our yard for some time. It was good, I can say. We ran for an hour or so as it was not very hot at 6 or 7 a.m. and everything was quiet and stuff like that. It was pretty cool, I can say. The running was kind of tiring sometimes, of course, and then we would just walk or something, and then continue jogging. So, those days I ran in the mornings and so that I had some experience of running in the mornings and , as I have sad, it was cool.

Then I used to run in the mornings when I was living with my aunt in Tbilisi. There is this long road, where there are not so many cars moving and it was easier to run there than in other places, I guess. So , I would run somewhere around 8 or 9 a.m. and then come back home and get ready and go to the university. That was pretty good, I mean, I was kind of energised after running and I would be all energised at the lectures.

So, now it was not the first time that I would run in the mornings, however, it would be the first time that I would have to run some other places, where I knew there were many dogs and though they wouldn’t hurt me , I still had this fear of getting hurt or something like that. Well, that’s my thing. I hate those animals and whenever they come close to me, I just have this feeling that they are going to touch me and then I will kick them in the face or somewhere and they will get angry and bite me or something like that.

You know, once I was at my grandmother’s and her neighbor had this small black dog, which was very rude, I must say, I mean, it would come to you and start barking and wouldn’t go away and it was pretty scary, I thought that it would bite me and I was scared because of that. Well, once I was leaving my grandmother’s house, I guess, I was going to school or something like that and so that I had to walk nearby her neighbor’s house, too, of course, and there was no dog, I mean, I couldn’t see that little black monster anywhere, so I thought that I was out of the woods and I breathed out with relief and continued my way out of that area, however, in a couple of seconds, there was some thing that I saw just in front of me and when I looked down, that dog was laying there and it was too late to go and walk other way or something like that and I just stood on that dog, I guess, well, technically, I hadn’t touched it, but I kind of jumped over it, I guess. And then this dog started barking and I was pretty scared, if you want to know the truth, because it’s something when you know that the dog barks usually and that when you walk near its house, it just runs out and starts his barking, but the other thing is, when you don’t see it and you bump into it and, in addition, get on it or jump over it or whatever it is! I thought that I wouldn’t get alive from there, however, as you can understand, I survived that occasion and I’m alive, writing these blogs.

Now you know about one of my stories and then comes another. This was the first time of me getting on a dog, however, that was not the last one, I mean, some things just happen the second time, too, I guess and this time was when I was at home and I had to go to some classes, I don’t remember, perhaps a personal tutor or something, so that I went out of the house and started walking. We have these neighbours just next to our house and they had this also black dog, called “Kusa” and it was like that one mentioned above! I couldn’t go through the street in front of their house if their door was open, because I knew that this Kusa would come out and start barking and it was just really horrible. Why people can’t have their dogs inside or whatever?! 

So, as I walked outside, this dog was sleeping or something in the middle of the road and I remember I was doing something or thinking about something and I couldn’t see the dog in front of me and I just stood on it, too, I guess, because it started making some sounds and then started barking and everything and I was just really scared and stuff, however, I managed to walk on and  I continued walking slowly. So, that was my second time when I kind of stood on neighbours’ dogs and it was pretty bad , if you want to know the truth. However, it would have been worse if they didn’t start barking and just bit me and stuff. Well, everything has its good and bad side, I guess, and the good thing was that it didn’t bite me and the bad thing was that I got more scared of dogs, than I was before that occasion.

Anyways, these days when my sister was in Georgia, she said that she needed to run in the mornings and stuff like that and she ran from 6 a.m. for a couple of times and she would return in half an hour or in an hour, I guess, I was not counting, and then, when she returned, she would go to bed and sleep. Well, she was pretty satisfied with her running, though she said that as early as 6 o’clock in the morning is just for runners and dogs. In addition, there were just some runners and there were plenty dogs there and  I thought, how uncomfortable it is when you walk your way to the bottom of the sea or something like that. 

Anyways, my sister was telling me to run with her in the mornings, but I just couldn’t wake up that early, because then I had these lectures and stuff like that. Then, until leaving she told me to run in the mornings and she was really persuasive, I guess. To be honest, I knew that I needed to run in the mornings or do something like that or exercise or whatever, because I used to go to Georgian national dance lessons for 5 years or so, I guess, and we exercised intensively, of course, and we did a great job in invented dances, I mean, we staged them , you know, and then we had these new dances and when I got home, I practiced those moves and things like that, so that I was in a shape and I moved around much and, well, I was younger then, of course. And after I quit Georgian dance lessons, it was like when those professional athletes or whoever quit their profession and don’t exercise anymore and things like that, they get all ill and their muscles go into atrophy or something like that and they become these horrible shaped persons, I guess. Well, something like that happened to my body, too, I guess, because then there were these couple of years, that I just used to come home from my university lectures, lye on my bed and take my laptop and watch some things, while eating stuff and I just couldn’t control my eating or my exercising, so that it was the time of relaxing and gaining weight and I shouldn’t have done it, because now I’m dieting and exercising and stuff like that, you know. 

Running for health and shape

There was this year 2013 or 2014 when I just exercised the whole summer to lose weight, I mean, I was 54 or something when the summer began and that was way too much, so that I started dieting and exercising and I exercised with HIIT routine and , well, I didn’t do any strength exercises, if you want to know the truth. I just did those things and I had the whole day scheduled and during my free time I just used to watch this series called “Royal Pains”, perhaps you know about it, it’s about a doctor who is no longer a doctor and goes to Hampshire and there he gets to be a doctor or something like that and there are some comedy moments, that you can’t ignore, I mean, that series is kind of good, I must say. 

Well, this routine really helped me to lose some weight, and while I exercised almost every day and I had these HIIT workouts and, at the same time, I jogged in the mornings and ate healthy stuff, I mean,  I just used to boil meat and stuff like that and eat them that way, and I used to eat some yoghurts and fruit and vegetables, you know and no bread or cakes or sweets or anything. Then I went to the seaside and there I swam a lot and they had these bikes for rent and I used to ride it in the mornings and stuff like that. So, basically, what I’m saying, is that you should combine both dieting and exercising together if you want to lose weight for good. It’s really necessary. Because with exercising, you get your muscles in a tone and you get in shape and everything and dieting helps you lose weight even more, I mean, with it you lose weight faster, and, besides, nothing’s better than healthy eating. You know, some think that dieting is just not eating and starving yourself and they think of so many methods of dieting to lose weight fast, that you can’t even imagine. However, the best way to lose weight and keep it that way and, besides, stay healthy and get used to eating healthy for the rest of your life is to eat plenty of vegetables and fruit and stuff like that, you know, and don’t drink those fizzy drinks and eat that junk food, such as chips and other things and don’t get all used to fast food stuff, of course. These things are just killing you, you know. They use so much refined oil and they use it again and again and it’s just really dangerous for the body, and, besides, there are people all over the world overweight because of those things, so just when you want to eat something like that, think about those people and how you can become one of them and then become all depressed and stuff, because you have so much weight and try to lose it, but not have enough strength to do it and things like that so on and so forth, you know.

So, I started running again this August  after my sister left, and, well, it was something like 8 or 9 in the morning when I used to go out and jog in the streets. I guess, it’s better to jog at 8 a.m., because there are not so many people outside and, besides, there are not so many dogs outside at that time , too, as I’ve noticed. When you decide to run in the very early morning, such as 6 or 7 a.m. there are just dogs outside in the streets, I guess, and so that it’s pretty dangerous, if you ask me. Well, to be honest, I wouldn’t run in those areas where the dogs are, because I really don’t like them and I don’t want them to be there even just watching me jog. They are really creepy and you don’t really know what to expect from them. So you should be really careful around them. You know, they don’t belong to anyone, they are homeless, and I don’t know why the government let those kind of dogs roam freely in the streets. That’s just silly. They can take them and have those houses for dogs or animals or whatever and then some people can go there and adopt them and stuff like that. You know, there are people who just really love dogs and they have many of them, so those people will go there and adopt those dogs and then they will have them at home or whatever and the dogs won’t roam freely in the streets and the people will walk freely , not afraid that somewhere something might come out of nowhere and scare them or bark them or bite them or whatever.

Anyways, there’s this way to the Tbilisi Sea from Varketili and there are not many cars or people or whatever and it’s a good way to jog there and go up and, maybe , go to the sea itself, too. I mean, I jogged from there to the very sea once, and though it was pretty tiring, I didn’t jog the whole time, of course. It took me something like 40 minutes, I guess, or maybe even more, but it was pretty good. The feeling of achieving your goal is always good , you know, and I had that in mind, that I would go to the sea that morning while jogging in the streets. There were some people there already, and, well, it was 10 a.m. or so, so that it was warm and they could even swim there, however, the beach was a little bit further, I mean, the place, where people gather and swim, and where there are those places of swimming and stuff like that.

There were some people jogging, too, that I met during my jogging, if you want to know the truth. Most of them were a little bit older, than me, and there was once this grandpa jogging pretty well and he was really in a good shape, I can say. I met him in this place, where there’s a large park and there are always some people in it with kids and everything. And after that begins a cemetery and the road around the cemetery is just a great place for jogging , if you ask me, because there’s usually no one there, just the cars go in the streets and that’s because that road leads to this huge shopping and entertainment center that they built some time ago, which is called East Point and there are always so many people there, that the parking lot is almost never empty. Well, from those streets you can either go down and get to that East Point, or you can go back and go to the seaside or in Varketili or wherever you want , if you want to know the truth.

There was this one time, I was jogging and then I stopped and continued it with walking and there was some dude driving a car, jeep if you must, and he just slowed down and was asking me something that I didn’t really understand and asked him to repeat, I didn’t really understand it the second time, too, however, I guess, he was asking me about the 3-rd microdistrict or something like that and I shook my head and told him that I didn’t know. You know, that answer is just a great one, I just love answering “I don’t know”, because that way everyone just goes away and let you be. So that , I often tell people that I don’t know something, when, if fact, I may know that one, however, I don’t bother bothering and just tell them that. So, this dude didn’t just leave me alone and was still kind of stopped there and he was asking me where I was going and whether he could help me or not. He was all like “hey girl, where  are you going? I can get you a lift” and I just wanted him to go away and I had this horrible face of mine , I guess, telling him that I was not going anywhere, and then he repeated his suggestion and I told him that I was jogging and then he finally went away. That was the strangest thing I have had  this summer, I guess, because I really didn’t expect something like that to happen, if you want to know the truth. Well, things happen and you don’t really know, when something’s going to happen, right?! So, this was really unexpected and creepy, if you want to know the truth. To be honest, I really hated that dude at that time and I just wanted to punch him in the face.

Anyways, the thing is, that you can jog anywhere where you want and no one can forbid you jogging and stuff like that, of course. However, there’s this thing in Georgia, that if you jog, you’re just crazy. The people just say that if they see you jogging, you know. Well, at least, they used to some time ago. Nowadays more and more people start jogging in the mornings or in the evenings and people somehow got used to that and they just don’t really pay much attention to jogging people, I guess. However, they still think for themselves, that those people are crazy, I mean, they just think that it’s silly to jog. I don’t know, why they think that.

Jogging is a very healthy decision one can make and, if you ask me, everyone should jog or run in the mornings, because that’s healthy and great and, besides, many people just sit on a chair all day and do no extra movements, I mean, they work in offices and stuff like that and they just don’t have that opportunity of walking or something like that, you know. There should be something, that will keep those people on track, I mean, they shouldn’t just sit on a chair all day , but that’s their job, they won’t do it with running and doing it at the same time, so that they kind of need to jog in the mornings, because then they won’t have time for it. however, I guess, you will agree with me, that it’s really hard to get up very early in the morning, and, while you can wake up at that time, when you can even be late at work, just get yourself ready for a morning jog and go outside and jog for some time and then come back and take a quick shower and get ready and go to work and then work all day and then come back to home and sleep and do this all over again. That’s just really hard for every day life, I guess, however, when you just get used to it, then you will have this urge of waking up early and going out for jogging, I guess. I mean, I started writing these blogs and I didn’t really have a courage to stand writing them plenty, because it was hard for me to even write one small blog, however, when I did it again and again, I just got used to writing it and then I have this urge of writing some stuff every day, even if I don’t really have much to say. However, there’s so much to tell you, that I don’t have time for it all, or else I would write everything here. Typing just takes much time, if you want to know the truth and that’s it! there’s nothing else that keeps me from not writing all those stuff that I want to write about here. I just have all those other things to do and it’s pretty hard to have some time for everything to be on the blog and in the articles , which I write.

Anyways, it’s all about health. I mean, if you are not healthy and you have some kind of pain or have some problems of some organs or something like that, you just lack the excitement of experience the life. Of course, if you are not well, you just don’t want anything and you just want to become well again, that’s the instinct. So, the very first thing that a man needs is the healthand then everything will be alright, if you ask me. 

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