So, THAT happened. What is “that”, you ask? THAT is me exercising twice this week.
It’s been a very introspective month since coming back from Massachusetts. I think this is the time of year where I always tend to get a little… dark and twisty, if you will. A combo of the end of summer, the loom of the holidays, the fact that another year is going by and I am still stagnant in a great many aspects of my life. This became a topic with the talk-doc the last time I saw her and I literally gave her a time line of major events in my life, most of them involving a huge life change (a.k.a. move way the eff away) and eventually finding myself back where I started, but with different outdoor scenery. Now I wonder if my Mass-move idea is because I want to live there, or because I want a change. For the time being, it’s still a thought, still something I would seriously consider for all the family reasons, but I need to figure out my “me” reasons too.
What ANY of this has to do with running… that I am not entirely sure, but, I got a wild hair on Monday and realized that once upon a time I actually signed myself up for a marathon, went so far as to purchase an ipod nano inscribed with “Maui 2007, 26.2 Miles – You CAN do this!”, and maybe ran a total of 5 days (according to the Nike chip I also purchased for said nano). Weighing in these days at at least 30-40lbs more than I did when I actually thought I could run 26.2, I decided to set my sights a little less drastic and instead, I signed up for a 5K.
I didn’t, and still don’t, really want to broadcast this to the entire world (though, here I am putting it on the internet.. heh), but I did confide in a coworker of mine whom I know enjoys running. I asked her for some tips and tricks and she said, “Do you want to know what I did when I started running?” “Yes please!” was my reply. She didn’t follow a particular program, she didn’t set her sights on running a specific length, she just got outside, walked, and ran when she thought she could. She’d aim for one block, and if she made it, great… if not, she’d try the same block the next day. And kept building her endurance that way.
It’s not exactly rocket science.
And I remember when I had my other blog (when I was planning to marathon), someone commented to me that the biggest tip for exercising he ever got was to just “get out there” – put your shoes on, go to the gym, and decide what you want to do when you get there. If you only work out for 5 minutes, hey… work out for 5 minutes. But the hardest hurdle, for me anyhow, has always been that first part… getting out there. The second largest hurdle has been to not feel like a total and utter failure when all I get done is 5 minutes of any workout.
So the idea of working out with no real goal in mind is pretty fantastic for me. While I totally appreciate the rigidity of C25K, I always felt like a mega loser when it came down to the time for that second sprint of a run and I was still trying to catch up from the first 60 minute run. For my “plan”? Step one is getting out there. Step two is just walking… and when I feel the burst to run, I run! When I feel like I can’t run anymore, I go back to walking. I work up a sweat, I drink water like a mofo, and before I know it, I’m feeling like “OK… that’s enough” and I realize, “huh… I just did about 20 minutes of cardio that I didn’t do yesterday!”
I am only 2 days in… knowing me (I mean, hello… look at the NAME of this blog!) there might be a chance that I won’t make it to the Hot Chocolate 5K… BUT, I am going to strive like hell to break my own stereotype.
effortphobic 