Diverse Ramblings

My First Run

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.

A new goal, a new dream

On the 9th of January 2011, which was a Sunday, I decided to actually *do* something about my vague desire to get fit. My motivation was that my little sister and I were possibly going to go abroad together in the summer, and she wanted to plan lots of activities like hiking, and I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up with her. So I installed the RunKeeper application on my brand new smartphone, and headed out the door for a walk around the neighbourhood.

A couple of hours later, at church, a friend mentioned that she was participating a walkathon at the end of February, and did I want to join?

Well, how's that for timing? I said yes :-)

Then when I realised that the walkathon was a half-marathon distance, i.e. 21km, I also said other things along the lines of "I'm crazy" and "Can I really do this?". And then when my mother decided to join me in training for the walkathon, well, then quitting wasn't an option any more.

After seven weeks of training three times a week, I did indeed do the walkathon. Mum and I finished in just over four hours, which meant we were nearly last, but on the other hand it's impressive that we finished at all given we started training so late :-) We each have a very nice medal to prove it too, my first athletic medal since I did some competitive swimming 19 years ago (sheesh!).

Over the seven weeks of training, I read books and magazines about running (walking literature is harder to find). I realised that, well, maybe I could... become a runner.

I've spent years training my mind, intentionally stretching myself by learning new things and studying new subjects every year. I enjoy learning and I love reading, and I finally realised that what I do is the mental equivalent of going to the gym and, once or twice a year, running a marathon when I sit for exams of various kinds.

Well, maybe now it's time to apply the same principle to my body!

I have never, in my life, been any good at sports.

My middle sister always came home with medals from the primary school sports day, but I always came home with Mum persuading me that it was OK that I finished last.

I have tried various sports, starting with sailing when I was 7 years old, then windsurfing and competitive swimming, follower by volleyball, basketball and kayaking in my teens, and then some tap dance and finally jazz dance training in my 20's... but any success I had was mostly due to (1) using my brains or (2) a very small field of competitors. Let's face it, when there are only three kids in the freestyle swimming race, someone had to go home with the bronze!

Well, my new goal is to be able to run for 30 minutes without stopping, and my new dream is to run a marathon.

This should be interesting.