Run....running all the time...

Running to the future...with you right by my side... OK that's enough No Doubt.

So yes! I've been running. And by "been", I mean I decided randomly last Friday that I really, really wanted to try running. Well I did, that very evening. And you know what? I ran more then than I ever have run consecutively in my life. I ran for 20 minutes straight. I had gone about 1.5 miles. The goal was to go all the way to 2 miles. But right at the 20 minute part, side pain!!! It struck hard and fast, and took about 10 minutes to walk off. I finished out my workout on the elliptical, but I was so proud of myself for running at all!

Saturday, after having spent some time Friday night and Saturday morning reading about proper running form, breathing, shoes, hydration, you name it I read it, I tried it again. Only this time I tried the run/walk method, as my running experience was limited to the previous day's run. I decided to follow this 8-week run/walk program which helps build up your running capabilities. Since I had no problem with the 20 minute run the previous day, I decided to skip ahead to week 3, which is walk 3 mins / run 4 mins. Ok, it says jog, but I call everything running.

My intention was to walk/run for 40 minutes, as that's the length of time I determined I want to do for my cardio. Sadly after only about 25 minutes of this, I was exhausted and my legs were killing me, so I finished out 30 minutes by walking quickly on an incline, then finished out the last 10 of my 40 mins on the elliptical. By the way, the elliptical after having been running is a JOKE. I was shocked, as it has been my weapon of choice for a long time now.

Sunday...oh Sunday, that was fun. And by fun I mean my legs were hurting so much I could barely walk. I think I might have gone a little too hard with running just a wee bit too fast. My leg muscles hated me for it. I decided to go to the gym anyway, but I did the whole 40 minutes on elliptical. By itself (aka not after having run) it seemed to still give me a good workout. Afterwards my legs actually felt better, so that was good.

By Monday I still wasn't recovered from the 2 runs on the weekend. I could walk better, but my sitting and standing up abilities were severely hindered. I took Monday off from the gym, but I did go bowling! And hey, that's more moving around than sitting on a couch ;)

Which brings me to Tuesday, last night! My legs were now fully recovered (whoo hoo!) so I decided to run again. I was going to go the gym after work, but then I was too lazy. I was going to go at 8, but then realized a show I wanted to watch came on at that time (also I had just discovered my laptop was majorly pwned with virii and injected dlls and crap and I was cleaning it). I was going to go at 9 when the show ended, but I decided I didn't like half the songs on my iPod and wanted to take them off. By 10 I was feeling like it was now too late and I should just stay home. By 10:15 I decided that was a lame excuse and I was going to go anyway, dammit!!!

So yes, I did make it there. It just took awhile. Having done even more reading about running by then, and exercise in general, I did a full 5 minute warmup at a moderate pace. I usually just go the first few minutes at a clip almost as fast as the pace I will maintain during the entire workout. Well, I read somewhere that by walking at a moderate pace (aka faster than you would normally stroll about, but not so fast that your heart rate is way up already), your body realizes this will be a sustained activity rather than a quick jaunt, so it pulls from fat stores instead of energy stores.

Then, since I had been walking for 5 mins, I decided to go into the 4 mins of running rather than the 3 mins of walking. I had run at 4.5 mph the previous 2 times I had run, but this time that felt really, really slow. So I put it on 5.0 mph. Better, but not great. So I bumped it up to 5.2 mph. Ahh, there we go! Can you believe it? After just 2 days running, I went up 0.7 mph. And I found it much easier to complete the 4 minutes of running than I had the first time I tried the run/walk method.

This time, I totally did it. I made it the entire 40 minutes (after the warmup) with 4 minutes of running at 5.2 mph and 3 minutes of walking at 3.8 mph, repeat (ok so that only worked until minute 39 began since (4 + 3) * 5 + 4 = 39, but hey!), and I finished with a 5 (ok 6) minute cooldown at the same pace I had done the warmup. I felt great. Like physically great. I also felt extremely proud, I had done my entire workout on the treadmill! I think I'm going to keep up the 4 mins run / 3 mins walk for another week since the next week is 2 mins walk / 5 mins run and well, that's a big difference and I don't want to jump into it too quickly.

And then, there was a guy I noticed when I walked in that looked like someone I had worked with at Resnet. He was still there when I finished, so I went up to him. It was him! I was shocked to see him here (not the same city as in college), so I assumed he had moved for work - and then I remembered that he had wanted to work for my company. I assumed that must have been what happened. But as it turned out, he grew up here! He just got back from several months in Romania and is looking for a job now while staying with his parents. But it was crazy seeing him here!

So there you have it, I am enjoying my successes as a newfound runner. I think it is also aiding my appetite. I've found that I become fuller more easily these last few days, which is great! And, it's great that I'm back in the gym. I hope I keep it up better this time!