Do any of you run?
Me – trying to do a pose my daughter demonstrated…
Like…… go out for a ‘jog’ for the heck of it? To stay in shape? To be fit? To lose weight? To keep the heart pumping? Marathons? Anything?
Well. I avoid running if at all possible. I have never liked it. I don’t know if I don’t like it because I’m bad at it or if I’m bad at it because I don’t do it.
I don’t feel like I’m in terrible condition fitness wise. Maybe I’m wrong. I don’t really know.
Running is not like a normal fitness class for me.
When I run I feel like I’m going to die.
There is a bit of a challenge going on at our Pawnshop. Our shop is in a little strip in LaGrange, KY and we are good friends with the owners of the nail salon next door (this is why you may have seen polish on my nails, by the way).
Anyhow, DH and our manager and the owner of the nail salon next door all decided to run a 5K. Since they are men, it inevitably turned into a competition. There has been lots of talk about the upcoming 5K and the race and who will finish first and who won’t be able to finish at all.
DH ran the Kentucky Derby Mini-Marathon a few years back and is the favorite for the race. DH is the kind of guy who could wake up on Saturday morning, without any training and decide to run a race— not only could he do it, and finish it, there’s a good chance he may win. I hate him.
not as easy as it looks…
For those of you who run marathons, I realize you are laughing right now at the joke a 5K is.
How does this involve me?
About 3 weeks ago, I was relaxing on a Friday night having a nice evening and a glass of red wine (herein lies the problem). This was the night I first heard about the 5K challenge. DH told us all about the friendly competition surrounding the race and that it was to happen in spring.
Immediately my 16-year-old daughter said, “I want to do it.”
The next words spoken surprised everyone in the room, but no one was more shocked than me.
For some unknown reason I blurted out, “I’ll do it too!” (I blame the wine)
It seemed like a good idea. I’ve always wanted to face and conquer my inability to run. I’ve always wondered what it is like to be able to run past 1 mile. I’ve always wanted to be able to jog and breathe at the same time.
This is my day.
I will conquer running and live to tell about it.
me… falling.
I decided since I can’t run and don’t know how to, I should get some expert help.
I got an app on my phone to help me through this trying time.
It’s called “Couch to 5K in 8 weeks.”….. I think.
It requires a 30 minute ‘run’ 3 times a week. This seemed doable to me and I am fully committed to doing whatever the app tells me to do. Ugh.
Week one was a breeze. There are a warm-up and a cool down in each ‘run’ (this takes 10 of the 30 minutes). The center 20 minutes is where all the action happens. Week one had me on a rotation of walking for 1.25 minutes and jogging for 1.25 minutes.
The second week was pretty easy too. The app ramped up a bit so I was jogging 1 1/2 minutes and walking 1 1/2 minutes.
This is week 3 and my 5K app has turned on me. Suddenly, the rotation jumped to 2 1/2 minutes of jogging and walking. This was rough but DH was next to me and I didn’t want to let him down.
Yesterday was week 3 day 2 and it tried to kill me. The app again raised the rotation time- 3 minutes of jogging and 3 minutes of walking.
I do realize what a baby I am. And how out of shape. And that I’m pathetic.
BUT…..yesterday, when I was on that treadmill, in the middle of those 3-minute, runs there were 2 4 thoughts going through my head.
- What the hell was I thinking?
- I’m going to die.
- Running is stupid.
- I quit.
Holy Mama.
I don’t think I can do this. I don’t feel like it’s getting any easier for me to run… nor do I feel like my heart is happy with this kind of abuse. Nor do I feel like I am getting enough oxygen.
How do runners do this?
Will it get better?
Am I doing something wrong?
Someone, please help!
Love,
Cj (not a runner)
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