Running Away

Ever trained to run a half or even full marathon?  Or are you a regular runner? I’ll admit…even with my roommate heading our college’s running club and offering to train me one-on-one I had zero interest in the sport.  This was due in large part to the fact that after running about 200 meters I was a hot winded mess.  I may not have been in the best athletic shape…

Anyway, after leaving college and adopting a desk job, I very quickly realized just how many calories I had burned walking around campus.  And was now not burning.  So my freshman 15 arrived a bit late and I was finally motivated to join a gym and get kicked into shape.  Now it’s about two years later and the ladies I work out with are looking at a new challenge: a ten mile run.  As intimidating as that sounds, they want to go as a group, run as a group, and finish as a group.  No one will be watching their times, the goal is just to cross that finish line.  So…I think I’m going to do it.  I really want to have that camaraderie, especially on my first run, and I think this kind of support is the best way to train and actually accomplish my goal.

I have done a bit of running as part of our workouts, but certainly nothing endurance-related.  Where to start?  A friend suggested a program called Couch to 5K (sounds appropriate) to get me started.  She actually used it to finish her first 5K, so that was promising!  So far I’ve done the Week 1 workout (last one today!) and I feel pretty good about it.  Who knew I could manage to hold on for 20 minutes?  Definitely not me.  So I’m optimistic about the plan and very excited to see how this new type of fitness conditioning will affect my other workouts.  I’m hoping the added cardio/endurance will improve my strength training.  So—wish me luck and I’ll keep you posted on how the training is working out!