That girl who was grinning like an idiot and punching the air along the woody pathway on Richmond Road west of Broadview last night was me.
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Finola insists that I call what I’ve been doing RUNNING. It’s the hip new term for what used to be called jogging. I am having trouble wrapping my head around this. I can’t honestly call what I do jogging OR running. I am basically dragging my sorry butt around my own neighbourhood, making a total spectacle of myself in the name of fitness.
Two things inspired me to do this:
1) I’ve been following Ginger’s blog for awhile now. I don’t even know how I found her. She’s a sweetheart, and writes about many issues in a genuine and articulate way. She was a school teacher in Texas but is now home with her adorable twin toddler boys.
Sidebar: It’s funny, this blog thing, because I was reading her blog before her boys were born and I’ve been watching them grow up ever since. It’s a strange experience, isn’t it, watching kids you don’t really know get older and finding yourself saying things like “aren’t they getting big now!”
Anyway, yes, Ginger challenged herself to run 500 miles (!) in 2010, and was recently interviewed on the 500 miles in 2010 blog. You can read the interview here.
2) Ms. Direction. The lady I’m writing about is a runner, the kind of runner I will never be, but her story was inspiring enough to make me wonder what I was missing.
Both these women gave me the kick in the pants I needed to try to run slog.
I downloaded a really great app for my iPhone called Couch-to-5K to help me along with interval training. It is basically a timer that tracks my progress. It tells me when to walk and when to run – in a very friendly voice – while my own music plays in the background. It also tells me when I’m halfway (THANK GOD) and when my workout is complete. If I could add anything to this program I would ask the developers to throw in a couple of encouraging messages like: YOU CAN DO THIS, or DON’T QUIT, or REMEMBER WHY YOU ARE DOING THIS.
I asked myself that a lot during last night’s slog. And the night before last, because I really didn’t feel like torturing myself. WHY AM I DOING THIS? I asked myself over and over again, especially as I clutched my side and limped along during the “walk” portion of my program.
Here’s what I came up with.
- 1) My goal is a small one. I want to be able to run for 12 minutes. When I was in elementary school I was never able to do the 12 Minute Run for our annual Canada Fitness event. THIS IS MY CHANCE TO DO IT.
- 2) If I can run for 12 minutes it stands to reason I can probably run 5K. I don’t care about time, I just want to be able to run this distance without stopping or collapsing.
To summarize: I run because I can. And I want to see if I can do it.
Weight loss has been unintentional. My clothes are fitting a little better right now. Last week I jogged in an older pair of yoga pants. I must have been quite the sight … periodically hoisting them up with one hand while I held my iPhone in the other. (Yes, I need one of those fancy holsters.) My size 31 jeans are falling off my hips (Seriously, I can pull them down without undoing the button.)
I know my mother is reading this post and is rolling her eyes (hi mom) and getting her Outlook fired up in order to whip off an epistle about how terrible running is for your body. I can predict what you’re going to say mom. You think that my ovaries are going to drop out of my body and that I’m destroying my knees. What I’m doing really isn’t damaging at all. It CAN be, if you run a marathon without having trained for it properly, but what I’m doing is basic cardio. Slogging.
There is a great thread on Ask Metafilter about running and what it will do for your body. There’s a lot of great tips in there. Like for example, the importance of having a great pair of running shoes. (Which I desperately need.)
I dropped my gym membership to save a few bucks this summer. So this, along with my daily pushups, will have to be a good substitute.
I’ve graduated to week 3, day 2 of my C25K program, which basically means I’m doing two sets of 90 seconds of running followed by 90 seconds of walking and three minutes of running followed by three minutes of walking. The first time I did my second three minute run I was practically sobbing; a mixture of extreme fatigue and total elation. I wiped my nose on my arm and tried to spit a much needed spit. I am an embarrassing spitter.
My hips are hurting a bit, but that’s about it.
I know the secret to running: it gets easier. The second time I did my two sets of three minute jogs it was a TINY BIT easier. I still cried. But it wasn’t as bad. When I started this whole thing I could barely run for 60 seconds, and there I was, doing three whole minutes. Woot!
Other discoveries I’ve made along the way:
- If you travel too far in one direction you will eventually have to go back.
- Music helps. Music is fuel. Listening to your laboured breathing will just make you miserable.
- Running outdoors is much harder than running indoors on a treadmill
- I wasn’t pushing myself hard enough on the elliptical trainer at the gym
- I have never sweat so much in my entire life
- I love my sports bra
- I don’t understand people who can run and talk at the same time. I figure if they’re chatting they are not working hard enough. Or maybe they are a special breed who have oxygen to spare??
Emma wants to come with me next time I go out. I am keenly aware that I will have to put on a brave face for her sake. She has already declared that running is “easy.” Ha.
Anyway, if you see me limping around Westboro please know that I will eventually graduate from slogging to jogging. I may even find myself running some day… even though the sad reality is that I might always look and feel like a mad rhinoceros and not a graceful and fleet-footed antelope like some of you runners out there. :)
