Who in their right mind enjoys running?

Honestly, in the past I have sworn up and down there was NO WAY I would ever enjoy running. All that hard work, not to mention the damage it can do to your body? Playing sports was way more fun. Swimming too. Even walking was more enjoyable than running. The only thing I liked about running was when it was done. How can that be a good choice of exercise?

But suddenly I'm finding myself wondering if I might actually be able to enjoy running. If you read my previous blog, you see I finally felt a glimpse of feeling good while running. Then on Saturday, I went for my dreaded 5 mile training. I say "dreaded" because that's what I was doing. Dreading it. I fell behind recently in my training when the baby was sick. I didn't think I was ready for 5 miles. But my coach suggested just running what I felt comfortable with (4 miles if that's the case) and walk the rest.

It was incredibly windy on Saturday at 8am for my group training, so I opted to skip it (bad team member). I waited until I thought the wind was a little better and headed out from my house at 2:45. I got about half a mile and wanted to turn around - at least to get a ski mask. The wind was blowing right in my face and it was HORRIBLE. Bitter cold and strong. I fought the urge and continued hoping when I got to the part of my trail that was faced the other way, maybe I would feel better with the wind at my back. It did feel better and I decided to keep going.

I was mostly running during my training. I kept the percentage of 75% in my mind as my goal for running. That would equal running 3.75 miles and walking 1.25. I think I stayed pretty close to that the whole time.

My amazing iPod has a Nike app that can measure how many miles I go. I don't know how it works - it may just be a fancy pedometer - but it worked. When I got home I mapped my run on mapmyrun.com and it was exactly the same as the Nike app. When the app told me I had completed 2 miles, I was surprised. It didn't seem like it had been that long! I was very confident I could continue and finish the 5 miles with no problem.



Not me, but this is about how I looked!



I did run into some snow during my run. It was that pellet-like kind. Almost like little styrofoam balls. And it was blowing right in my eyes. It actually forced me to go down to a walk at one point so I could CLOSE my eyes as I went. I'm glad my race is in May and snow will be very unlikely. But I may need to invest in a baseball hat that will protect my eyes from rain (if it happens).

I continued through my run and found myself running for long spans of time feeling good. The only reason I had to walk at times was because of my bladder issues (again - I definitely need to see a urologist at some point). My legs and my lungs felt much better than I ever would have expected.

My iPod finally told me I had hit 5 miles and I was thrilled. I STILL felt good! I also still had half a mile to go before I got home. So I willingly CHOSE to run the rest of the way. (SOOOOO not something I would have done in the past)

I ended my run at home. I had gone 5.47 miles in 1 hour, 13 minutes. My average mile was 13:30 minutes. Translated to my treadmill, that's a 4.5 mph average WITH walking included. So apparently going 4.0 on my treadmill at home is not doing me justice. I CAN go faster and need to in the future.



After the run I felt amazing. My arch hurt a tiny bit on one foot, but otherwise my body felt great. And I was thrilled. I had actually ENJOYED the run. So much so that I was looking forward to the next one as soon as that one ended! I'm not totally sure this "love of running" will continue. I know everyone has bad runs at times. But I guess as long as I don't quit after a bad run and I keep with it, I MAY have more of these "fun" runs ahead of me!

 Heather - potential runner

That first mile

Ask even the most experienced runners and they will tell you "The first miles SUCK!" But long distance runners continue to enjoy running because after that first mile or two, things get easier, you feel better and you are able to "enjoy" the run.

Tonight was the first time I remember ever experiencing that sensation myself. Oh, I've felt the "SUCK" part plenty. But that feeling of relief and enjoyment after the first mile has never happened to me until tonight.

I started with a minute of walking then went into a run at 4.4 mph (faster than my normal 4.0 jog). I had a bit of extra energy thanks to my awesome husband who bought me an iPod for Valentine's Day. I finally got around to putting a bunch of upbeat songs intended for my runs. My rule is that I am not allowed to listen to those songs unless I am training. And I love these songs. So I have some extra motivation to run and I have lots of fun training.

Anyway... so I started off strong. I naturally also started panting. And sweating. No biggie, but its definitely not "enjoyable". About a half a mile into the running, my throat starts burning from my heavy breathing. My mouth is now dry. And I have a headache. This was not good news since I knew I had to do 3 miles tonight. I decided to stick it out through the end of the song that had just started (Firework by Katy Perry) and then I would walk for a little bit. As Firework started drawing to an end, my iPod and Katy Perry got all sneaky on me and the next song (Last Friday Night by Katy Perry) literally blended right in and started playing with no break. I wondered if I should keep running since the music never really ended. It was at this point that I realized I was feeling pretty good compared to how I had felt earlier. My throat wasn't on fire anymore. And I didn't feel like I was pushing myself to move - it felt more automatic now. So I decided to keep running through the next song. Then I continued through the NEXT song. It was surprising! When I finally slowed to a 3.5 mph walk, I saw I had run 1.16 miles! This isn't a big deal to a regular runner at all, but for me, this is HUGE! I normally have to take lots of breaks throughout my training. Run 0.2 miles, walk 0.1, run 0.2, walk 0.1. So to run 1.16 straight, it was a great improvement.

In my 3rd mile, I started to get pretty tired, but that's to be expected since I'm in TRAINING and I'm used to 2 miles. But I still ended up running the majority of the time. And none of it was as hard as that first mile.

So, I shall continue my training with a brighter outlook knowing that the first mile will always SUCK, but those next miles might actually be fun (especially with the right music)!