Running with Shakespeare

I am playing Falstaff this summer in a community theater production of "The Merry Wives of Windsor".  This is my first lead role in a Shakespearean play (let alone any play)!  I have already started learning lines and doing basic character development (psychology, motivations, et cetera).  Even though I'm an amateur (a case could be made for semi-professional though), I want to do this role the best that I can.

For the cardio portion of 5BX, I have elected to run.  At this point in the program, I need only run half a mile.  So far, my average running time is a little over four minutes, which would pass at the A+ level for chart one (to "pass" at my current level of D+, I need to run it in seven).  Still, I know if I am going to succeed at higher levels, I need to find other ways to push myself and improve.

I have been reading about boot camp experiences lately.  One thing that struck me as interesting was that recruits have to yell their count out loud during push ups or other exercises, which trains the body to work more efficiently with less oxygen.  I already count out my reps during the other four execises of 5BX (not necessarily yell them.  I have neighbors), but I wanted to do something for the running portion.

During yesterday's run, I started reciting lines for Falstaff out loud (or at least ones I thought I had commited to memory).  Not only did it become a test of physical endurance, forcing my body to work with less oxygen, but also a mental test, trying to focus on lines I need to have memorized by June.  When I ran out of lines, I switched to Trinculo's first monologue from "The Tempest".  Before I knew it though, I was already twice around the track.

At the end of the run, I did not get as fast a time that I usually get (I still would have passed on the A+ level), but it was actually a lot of fun.  I was neither out of breath nor terribly exhausted afterward and, if nothing else, doing this reinforced scenes I know well and others that need work (and there are a lot of them).  On the plus side, a good indicator of pace is whether you can talk out loud during a run.  If Falstaff is going to be fat this summer, the theater may need to get him a special suit.  So if you see someone running on track two speaking in Elizabethan English, that might be me.