Bitten

I have officially been bitten by the running bug. I never thought I would ever be a runner. I have always chosen water sports or bicycling as the preferred method of exercise and quite frankly thought runners were a bit off their rockers. I don't exactly know what happened but I think I have become one of those runners. I of course have a long training road ahead of me before I can actually run any significant distance but man do I crave just the act of running. I've been taking advantage of the fitness center on site at the new job and been working out on the elliptical or the bike about 3-4 days a week for the past month or two. But then, the elliptical just wasn't enough and I wanted something more strenuous. I took a page out of my husband's playbook and hit the net for some research and found tons of sites for running. Now, I am equipped with a 30-day training plan designed for people just like me who haven't run a day in their lives and promises to turn me into a 3-mile a day runner in a month. Today was day 3 of training. It is amazing how good I feel - my legs are sore for a while after the workout but never lasts into the next day so I can easily train every day. (It is even weird to listen to me right now! Train every day? Who am I?) I will chronicle my training in hopes it might keep me on my rocker...

Training guidelines - "30/30 Program"
Train for 30 days / 30 minutes a day
Must walk the first 10 minutes and the last 5 minutes
Middle 15 minutes, alternate running and walking until you build up ability to run the entire 15 minutes straight. Very beginning goals are to run for 30 seconds, walk for 90.

Day 1 - morning jog/walk outdoors on mostly flat route. Had the dog with me. I don't have a stop watch so I couldn't judge exactly how long the jog intervals were. I just ran until I couldn't anymore and then walked until I could run again. Really out of breath after the running parts but pushed myself to run 4 intervals in the 15 minute time frame. Noticed later in the day my ankles were really sore. Funny the muscles you use differently depending on what you are doing... This was actually the second time I went "running". I attempted to just run a mile a couple of weeks ago and thought I would die plus my hips hurt for days. That was before finding the training program. Training is much better than jumping in blind...

Day 2 - indoors on the treadmill. Wow, I can run longer than I thought! Averaged 90 second running intervals with 1 minute walking in between. Legs were really sore - especially my calves - but stretched really well afterwards. Ankles are still a bit achy but better than yesterday and they didn't bother me WHILE running, just afterwards. Felt good and I was less out of breath today. Had an epiphany on one of the last intervals. I had been running like I always do and was so tired and out of breath but wanted to push myself to run for another full 90 seconds. I changed my stride and instead of bouncing more up and down I kept my upper body stable and flat and just moved my legs. OMG, it was like finding a burst of energy for actual running instead of bouncing. Can this be what the hubby calls being an efficient runner? Look at that, already making progress...

Day 3 - evening outdoors on the same mostly flat route. Had the dog with me again which hindered me today. Might leave her home next time instead of fighting to keep her from sniffing and running to the fences of all the other dogs in the damn neighborhood. Still was able to run several intervals and by using my new and improved stride I was less out of breath than the last time I ran outdoors. Again couldn't be specific on the time and due to doggie issues didn't get as many long running intervals but still a good workout. Ankles aren't noticeably store today - nor is anything else come to think of it. I can't believe I'm training every day!