Learning to Run

I decided to sign up for the Lawyers Have Heart 10k run on June 12. It's important to note that I don't run. I believe the last time I ran -- besides to catch the incoming Metro train, to catch my runaway dog, and to catch my 3 year old before he ran into oncoming traffic - that one's been a while since my 3 year old is now 15 -- the last time I ran would have been in high school . . . because I HAD to . . . to pass P.E. So, I'm not sure what planets aligned last week and gave me enough optimism and motivation to think this was not only a good idea but that I could successfully run a 6 mile race in the next 7 weeks, but here I am - learning to run.

It's been about a week and today I saw my first bit of progress. I decided to set a 2 mile course for the first week and a half that I would walk the first mile and then run the second. That notion was easily displaced the first morning when I ran for about 30 seconds when my legs decided they were not running anymore. I managed to finish one minute of jogging, walked for another minute, jogged for another, walked another minute, and then barely finished the third minute of jogging before I wisely decided I would finish the mile walking. My training plan includes running every other day and cardio on the alternating days. On my running days, I get so winded during the 1 minute walk/1 minute jog that I can barely drink from my water bottle.

Today was officially the start of the second week of my training plan. I set out this morning feeling pretty good and realized after the third cycle of walking/jogging that I could keep going. I did a 5 minute walk/jog cycle and decided to finish the course by walking. After today, I'm excited to see where I'll be in another 6 weeks.