Since mid-February, I have been thinking about running, as in, me actually running.
I decided to wait until after the walkathon to start running (27th February) but then it took a week and a half to recover from a foot injury I got from the race, and *then* I caught a nasty cold.
But today, I felt well enough to think about doing something other than just try to get through the day, so I pulled on my walking gear, strapped on my heart monitor, consulted Google Maps, and headed out the door for... my very first run.
I found the same recommendation for beginning runners in various places, so this was my plan: 5 minutes of walking (to warm up), then alternate 1 minute of running with 1 minute of walking, for 10 cycles. And finally, another 5 minutes of walking to cool down.
The idea is that, over a few weeks, you gradually increase the amount of time you spend running before you talk a break by walking. Eventually, when you can run for 30 minutes without stopping, then you can start thinking about races if you want to.
What actually happened this morning was more like, 1 minute of running followed by 2 minutes of walking and some worried consultation of the heartrate monitor, and I only did 8 cycles because I was worried about the consequences of all this unaccustomed activity (lots of soreness tomorrow).
When the RunKeeper application gave me my average pace at the end, I was surprised because it was slower than my walking speed when I was training for the walkathon! ARGH!
In retrospect though, it makes sense, because my recovery walking speed today was way slower than my 'brisk walk' speed!
Well, I feel good that I got out there and did my first run, but I don't feel very accomplished because it seems like I am veeeery far from my goal of 'being able to run for 30 minutes without stopping'.
But, as Lao Tzu famously said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step".
So today was my single step, and I hope that I will find the willpower to take as many more steps as I need to.
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