running out of steam

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A few weeks ago I decided to start running again. Other than a few runs before my annual Seattle Jingle Bell Run the last time I had really run much at all was in high school so it had been a few years. Usually about a week or 2 before the Jingle Bell Run in December I would suddenly decide that maybe this year I would run the whole 5K but after a couple of days I would realize that maybe I should have started just a bit earlier.

Usually I would end up running about 1/2 of the Jingle Bell Run and then decide I would definitely run the whole thing the following year. Well after 5 years I still hadn't made it. Cardio just isn't really my thing - I would much prefer to go to yoga, pilates, lift weights, or anything else that wouldn't require me to perspire too much or worse to get red in the face. My face turns bright red after any extended cardio - a sign I have always taken to mean that I shouldn't bother.

But my big mouth once again caught up with me when I told my sister Tanya that I would sign up to run if any of the runs she had been doing had a 5K instead of just a 10K. Of course she found one and suddenly I was committed. I had started running a few weeks before signing up but hadn't gotten very serious about it.

Now that I had to run a 5K in 4 weeks I had to step it up a notch or 2. Tanya helpfully sent me a 5K training schedule for beginners. Well it wasn't much help since it had the first day starting with a 2 mile run. If I could run 2 miles straight I wouldn't need a training schedule. I am pretty sure within 4 weeks I could certainly add on the additional mile plus. Instead I was starting from the point of just running down the block. I needed another training schedule that started from the beginning.

After searching for a while I didn't find anything that started at the level I was at and got to to running a 5K in 4 weeks. The smallest distant I had to run on any of the training schedules started at 1.5 miles - this wasn't going to work. So instead I came up with my own plan. Of course this started with shopping - because if you can't run well at least look good doing or or look like you know what you are doing. And I can always find a reason to go shopping and buy some new toys.

I bought a GPS watch so I could time my training sessions and know exactly how far (or how much further I needed to go). Then of course I needed new sport style headphones. My new gear didn't really improve my performance but I was starting to look the part more - or until I started turning bright red after a block or 2.

My plan is now to go 3.2 miles every day that I can in hopes that if I run until I have to walk and then repeat until my 3.2 miles is done that I will continue to improve. Sam even volunteered to go with me over the weekend while we were in Poulsbo on the boat. Guess he wanted to see how far I was progressing himself. Of course I did tell him that running was my new fitness plan since that meant I could do it from the boat with no equipment (well other than my new accessories). It is amazing what Sam is willing to do if it is somehow tied to a boat.

So with 2 1/2 weeks left I need to improve dramatically or find some new running accessory that will enable me to run a 5K. Really what I am hoping is that I will get a huge rush of adrenaline and it will get me through on the day of the event. In reality I may just have to walk a bit during this one but come December for the Jingle Bell Run I might actually make my goal of running that one. Really 5 years isn't that long to wait, it will just make it all that much sweeter when I finish. See I do accomplish what I set out to do - it is just on my own time table.