walking not running

On Saturday I walked a 10K. Yep you read that correctly - walked a 10K. Turns out that people actually can sign up to walk a 10K, 1/2 marathon, or even a full marathon though that begs the question of why someone would choose to walk 26 miles. I think it also covers those who think running sounds good initially and then they forget to actually start the training prgram.

My sister Tanya was going to run her first 10K and wanted me to participate with her. Knowing that the likelihood of me running a 10K was pretty much nil she told me I could sign up to walk. I really thought it sounded pretty boring by myself but luckily she had 2 friends who were willing to do it with me. Walking by myself for 6 miles - boring, talking for 6 miles - sign me up.

Showing up Saturday morning we saw people running before the race even started. Now those people must really be in shape if they would run before the start - we both thought they were crazy. But Tanya thought I was a bit crazy too when I insisted on taking a few more swigs of my diet coke before exiting the car. Turns out maybe runners don't consider a DC in the morning the best way to start off a race.

After watching all these in shape people run by us on the path it actually made me want to start running again. I started to believe maybe I could run a 10K as well. After all if I started slow and ran a few times a week in a few months I could probably be out there with everyone else.

It really seemed like an excellent idea. In fact I even started thinking about how far I should run on Monday morning. Monday morning came and I had a bit of a cold so decided to work out inside. Tuesday morning the weather was beautiful but maybe doing my workout inside was a better idea since I could finish in 30 minutes and not have to put on my tennis shoes. Wednesday morning I had an early appt so really working out wasn't an option unless I wanted to get up 1/2 hour earlier - nope sleep was a better choice.

I bet at this rate by Friday I will have forgotten all my plans to run again. Which really isn't such a bad thing. Walking a 10K is much more enjoyable. You get to chat with friends, take in the scenery, have the energy to cheer loudly when you see others running (no way could I cheer and run at the same time), no need to wear a sports bra that takes 10 minutes to get positioned for optimum support, and best of all not have my face turn bright read from exhaustion. Really it is a good thing I procrastinated - it seems I am much more suited for walking than running.

So if anyone needs someone to walk a 5K or 10K with them sign me up, as long as we go out for food afterwards.