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Right now I’m running. Well, not “this very minute” right now, but right now in my life. A couple times a week I grab my keys and tell my family I’m headed to the gym to run.
Those were always words I wanted to say. I also wanted to nonchalantly say things like “I had a really good run last night” or “The air was so crisp on my run this morning.” Something other than bending over and heaving out “I lost my breath before I made it to the end of the block.“ Cuz never in my life have I been a runner.
Growing up I skipped sports in favor of not being embarrassed in front of family and classmates and strangers by my complete lack of hand-eye coordination, which means I never had to run laps, or whatever it is that coaches make you do.
In college I tried to take it up. Then before my wedding I tried again. And again after I had Little Missy. Each time I made it to the one-mile mark of jogging nonstop before I did not run again. Like, that was an acceptable goal to reach and why push it when I can go home and watch Law & Order reruns on A&E?
But now Hubby and I are training (another word from the runner’s dictionary!) for the 5k portion of the Prairie Fire Marathon. Which means I have to run a little more than three times further than I’ve run at one time in my entire life.
I needed help to get started. Hubby was a runner and so he does not understand the pesky problems of shin splints or ragged breathing that plague me. So I downloaded a variation of Couch to 5k my iPod. Very helpful. I used it five years ago, but that was in the dark, pre-app age when I had to write out each running/jogging increment on paper and then keep track of it while on the treadmill. But see, jogging and breathing and paying attention to which “Walk for 3 minutes” and “Run for 3 minutes” I was on was nearly impossible as I tried to also not look as if I were going to faint in front of the other gym-goers. This app thing is really helpful. Hooray for technology.
A good nine or ten weeks ago I started. And I’ve made it, friends. Thank you, Couch to 5k. A couple weeks ago I actually ran four miles WITHOUT STOPPING. Right when I saw my husband upon my return home I got down in the Molly Shannon Superstar Pose with FOUR fingers held up high on each hand. Now, I did do that on a treadmill, which is easier than running on the street, and although I’ve been saying “running,” let me make it clear that there was no running involved. It was jogging at the speed some people fast-walk. But I had the form and I didn’t stop. I’m still amazed at myself.
As I’ve been able to run for forty and fifty minutes without stopping I wonder: what do you runners think about? Because my brain gets bored. That probably says something about my psyche, but still. Especially you marathoners. What do you do with your brain while you’re running for hours on end? Do you put in your headphones and learn Spanish? Cuz you have the time. Maybe it gets easier to think about your day and enjoy the scenery when you’re not concentrating on each and every inhalation and exhalation.
In a week I will participate in my first-ever race. I will get lapped by 12-year-olds and 50-year-olds, but I will do something I’ve never done before. And after I’ve reached this goal I might keep up this running thing, if for no other reason that to nonchalantly say, “I had a really good run this morning,” and mean it.
Right now I’m running. Well, not “this very minute” right now, but right now in my life. A couple times a week I grab my keys and tell my family I’m headed to the gym to run.
Those were always words I wanted to say. I also wanted to nonchalantly say things like “I had a really good run last night” or “The air was so crisp on my run this morning.” Something other than bending over and heaving out “I lost my breath before I made it to the end of the block.“ Cuz never in my life have I been a runner.
Growing up I skipped sports in favor of not being embarrassed in front of family and classmates and strangers by my complete lack of hand-eye coordination, which means I never had to run laps, or whatever it is that coaches make you do.
In college I tried to take it up. Then before my wedding I tried again. And again after I had Little Missy. Each time I made it to the one-mile mark of jogging nonstop before I did not run again. Like, that was an acceptable goal to reach and why push it when I can go home and watch Law & Order reruns on A&E?
But now Hubby and I are training (another word from the runner’s dictionary!) for the 5k portion of the Prairie Fire Marathon. Which means I have to run a little more than three times further than I’ve run at one time in my entire life.
I needed help to get started. Hubby was a runner and so he does not understand the pesky problems of shin splints or ragged breathing that plague me. So I downloaded a variation of Couch to 5k my iPod. Very helpful. I used it five years ago, but that was in the dark, pre-app age when I had to write out each running/jogging increment on paper and then keep track of it while on the treadmill. But see, jogging and breathing and paying attention to which “Walk for 3 minutes” and “Run for 3 minutes” I was on was nearly impossible as I tried to also not look as if I were going to faint in front of the other gym-goers. This app thing is really helpful. Hooray for technology.
A good nine or ten weeks ago I started. And I’ve made it, friends. Thank you, Couch to 5k. A couple weeks ago I actually ran four miles WITHOUT STOPPING. Right when I saw my husband upon my return home I got down in the Molly Shannon Superstar Pose with FOUR fingers held up high on each hand. Now, I did do that on a treadmill, which is easier than running on the street, and although I’ve been saying “running,” let me make it clear that there was no running involved. It was jogging at the speed some people fast-walk. But I had the form and I didn’t stop. I’m still amazed at myself.
As I’ve been able to run for forty and fifty minutes without stopping I wonder: what do you runners think about? Because my brain gets bored. That probably says something about my psyche, but still. Especially you marathoners. What do you do with your brain while you’re running for hours on end? Do you put in your headphones and learn Spanish? Cuz you have the time. Maybe it gets easier to think about your day and enjoy the scenery when you’re not concentrating on each and every inhalation and exhalation.
In a week I will participate in my first-ever race. I will get lapped by 12-year-olds and 50-year-olds, but I will do something I’ve never done before. And after I’ve reached this goal I might keep up this running thing, if for no other reason that to nonchalantly say, “I had a really good run this morning,” and mean it.
