Let's talk about running, shall we?

I am not a runner. 

Let me set the scene for you:  It's 1985.  You're in a church parking lot about a half block from Lowell Elementary school.  There is a group of about 20 fifth graders and perhaps some orange cones laid out in an oval.  (That cone part may be fictionalized.  My old lady brain can't remember that part.)  It's the big day.  The day "they" want you to run a mile.  And be timed.

Torture.

There's one little girl.  Adorable, really.  (Well, maybe not in fifth grade.  There were some "lost years" there in early puberty!)  She wants to do well.  In her head she's thinking, "It's just running.  I'll nail this."  She SEES herself coming in first.

And, she comes in 4th to last.  Painfully so.  Embarassingly so.  And did I mention that her Dad was a cross-country running coach?  sheesh.

Yes, that little girl was me.  Obviously, 25 years later, I'm OK with that.  Hey, at least I finished!  But it's one of a long list of examples in which I am just not biologically predisposed to be a runner.  Now, if a bear was chasing me?  I could probably run.  But not for long and that bear better only have like 2.5 legs or something to slow him down as well. 

Over and over I've been challenged to run - training for the volleyball season, trying to get my cardio up for my dance training, at the gym track - and it's just never stuck.  Who knows why.  In all of those instances, I was in pretty top shape fitness-wise.  Not to be to er, blatent, but I have always blamed the largeness of my chest.  It's not easy to run with all that going on.  Trust me.

In this new era of eliminating the "can't" from my life, I'm DETERMINED to become a runner.  A couple of years ago, I'd run across this running program called:  Couch to 5K. http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml  At that time, there was really no such thing as an MP3 player or iTunes.  I printed the training schedule off and dragged it down to the dusty basement treadmill.  Did the first day and then abandoned it.  People, it's hard enough for me to run - think Pheobe from Friends but with less joy and flailing - without having to refer to flowcharts of duration and speed.

Enter the modern age.

There's an app for that! 

Now, I don't have a fancy cell phone.  But I dug through iTunes and found a free podcast download by a fella named Robert Ullrey.  It's free and with only a little coaxing, it is now on my MP3 player.  His website (which also contains his podcasts) is here:  http://www.ullreys.com/robert/Podcasts/index.html  The music is a little new age-y but you get used to it.  I do know my friends with fancy phones bought apps that flow right over your own music.  I can get the name of it if anyone's interested.

Basic breakdown of the Couch to 5K program - or C25K as the cool kids (or lazy kids) call it.  You walk for about 5 minutes as a warm up and then do alternating intervals of running and walking.  Week 1 is 5 minutes warm up, 1 minute run, 90 seconds walk and repeat until you've completed 8 running intervals. 

And the first day I did it, I thought I was going to die.  Total flashback to the fifth grader in that church parking lot.  Surprisingly, my lungs didn't feel like they were going to crawl out of my body in protest.  It was my calves.  Holy Hannah.  On the second minute of running they started BURNING.  I'll be honest, I only made it partially through that workout.  Good as an eye opener, not great for morale.  But, after a rest day I was out there again.  And made it twice as far without full body meltdown.  Rest day, onto day 3 and I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!  The whole program from start to finish.  With no pausing or even really any feelings of wanting to die right there on Basswood Avenue.  Amazing stuff. 

I made the executive decision to repeat week 1 this week.  You can't really count what I did last week as successfully completion.  Today will be day 3 and I am probably ready to move onto week 2 next week.  I'm SCARED to move to week 2, but I will do it. 

There's nothing pretty or glamorous about me and running.  Yet.  But, it's nice to know that I *can* run.  Even if it's for 8 spaced out minutes.