Training

I recently purchased a book called, The Non-Runners Guide to Running a Marathon. Now, let me give you a little background as to why I would buy such a book. People look at me and state...there is no way she's a runner. Which is entirely true. I'm not a runner. I used to be, but was never really good at it and never truly enjoyed it. I can only once remember that runners high....That was back in the day and I felt fabulous because we had to do a five mile run as punishment as for as tired as I was, I was able to do it. Now since then, I've not run much more than three miles at a time, and for the past 5 years, I haven't done any running at all!!!

So, back to my story. I wanted to get back into running. I have no plans of running a marathon, but I really liked what these authors had to say and the training program they had laid out. They started with a beginning training session that was about ten weeks long, starting from beginner to more advanced. I figured I was somewhere in the middle, so thats where I started myself. I started myself with this training regiment...jog 5min, walk 5min, repeat twice for a total of 30 minutes. The first time I did it I thought i was gonna die. Initially I thought...who can't jog for five minutes....I barely made it! The last 5 min segment was grueling. (and quite honestly i certainly wasnt' moving that fast!!!) But, I got through week one. In fact on day three, I actually was able to jog for 15 consecutive minutes. That felt wonderful!!!!

So, this is week two. The temp hit like 38 degrees today, a tropical heatwave from the cold snap we've been dealing with. So, I decided to jog outside today rather than at the gym. This weeks training is jog 10 min, walk 5 min, repeat twice. For a total of 30 minutes. It's so much harder to actually jog outside. In the cold, on the pavement, with hills...I didn't even make my first 10 minutes...I only made it 8. I was a bit disappointed, but then again i said to myself....You're a beginner Amy, you don't have to prove anything to anyone. If you can't run 10 minutes today, maybe you can tomorrow. Needless to say, I did manage to jog my full 10 minutes the second go round. Barely! But, it was a huge accomplishment, for me.

Lets see what the rest of the week and next week bring me. I feel so good after this little bit. I'm going to start looking for some little races to do...like a 3K, not that I'm in for the competition, but something to push me a little bit. I'll start looking for thoses after i know I can jog 30 minutes straight, which at this rate is about 4-5 weeks from now. We'll see.....