I've had a blog about running before but stopped writing and deleted the site because... I thought it was too serious. I mean, running should be fun, otherwise it would be hard to consistently do it day by day for years and even decades.
I am a humble member of Team Power Puff Boys http://teampowerpuffboys.com. I'm proud of my team, we are a group of amateur Long Distance Runners who run races from 1K to 42K, to Ultramarathons, to infinity and beyond! I say amateur because we each have our own day job profession and we don't really make money out of running. And compared to the professionals, we look like joggers.
Why the name JoggerNatz?
My runner ex-officemate (let's call him joggerboy) and I were once toying around about running and about newbies... sorry if I step on some of you there... who would purchase a lot of expensive running gadgets like big ass GARMIN 310XT, compression tights CWX, Newton Forefoot Running Shoes, expensive OAKLEY glasses, Nike compression shirts, compression socks, RUNNR visors, ipod/iphone-armband-headphone, 4-bottle Nathan Hydration belt, do 20minute stretching and then proudly run around Bonifacio High Street at 10mins/km pace. A lot of runners in that place do look funny with all these complete accessories especially when a minimalist runner zoom past them. My officemate and I had to agree that we were both guilty of having some of these accessories so we called ourselves joggers. I called him JoggerBoy, and he called me JoggerNatz... (from the X-Men villain, the unstoppable Juggernaut.)
Calling myself a jogger can be useful sometimes when people ask me, "So you joined a marathon this weekend and you have a medal. Did you win? Are you a member of the Philippine Team?" I would humbly reply "I'm just a Jogger sir/ma'am" and they would immediately understand.
On the other hand, some runners seem offended when I call myself a Jogger and they're slower than me. They say "If you're a Jogger at 5mins/km, what does that make me?"
What is Jogging?
Jogging is the easiest form of running. Technically, I would define jogging as an act of running that you run it at your slowest pace possible, without slowing too much to a biomechanical walk. Maybe we can use it in a sentence like "I am going to jog my easy run". When we do our speedwork or interval workouts, we sometimes jog or walk the recovery in between the fast sprint runs. During these recovery jogs, I try to do them at my slowest pace to lower my heart rate, but still running to promote blood flow to help clear the lactate buildup.
History of Jogging
Historically, jogging was used by Coaches Lydiard and Bowerman to promote Long Distance Running to the masses. In the past, when people normally think of running as for serious athletes, so people had to be lured to easy running as form of "jogging". Then I think it was in the 80's when people would go jogging for health reasons. Not so serious runners would buy "jogging pants" and bring SONY WALKMAN with them, wear headbands, and run with the music. Hence, we get the picture of the typical JOGGER.
Running for the Masses
Fortunately, runners have started to learn better and for most of the newbies they would start treating this as their personal sport/struggle and would try to beat their own times (PR's- Personal Records). Also, new scientific studies would show gentle jogging is good for health, but more distance and more intensity can be better. They would change part of their lifestyle - eat healthily, manage stress, and give time to run and promote running. I guess if you move beyond merely jogging once a week for 10minutes to racing a 5K at a local race trying to beat your last 49minute PR, to me -you are a runner.
I am JoggerNatz, and like you - I am a Runner!
Seriously, this blog is going to be about RUNNING. I'll be talking about my running stories and share some tips I've learned along the way. I dream of qualifying the Boston Marathon someday. I’ve been running for 4years now, hopefully around 50% of my potential. My qualifying time for the Boston Marathon at my age as of this writing (1/21/2012) is pretty darn fast for me - 3:05, and I probably need to run 2:50 if I would like to ensure I register because they prioritize faster runners, not joggers. Ouch, that hurts. My current Marathon PR is 3:29, and Half-Marathon is 1:33, so I have a long way to go. Please join me in my journey and I hope to give you readers some inspiration and please do comment and give me your inspiration as well.
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