Running.....

I do plenty of "running" when at work - my research keeps me hopping from one task to the next and the hours fly by astonishingly fast. As for actual running I've never been a runner. All my life I've known people who run and some of them even like to run. I've never understood this because it's always been very difficult for me. Even as a child I couldn't run the full mile in gym class and, to be perfectly honest, I remember being proud one year when I ran half of it before I had to slow to walk and try to replenish my oxygen supply with huge, ugly gulps of air.

So it will come as a big surprise (to me too) to tell you that I've started running. For a few weeks now I've been donning my exercise gear and sneakers and heading to the gym where I plant myself on the treadmill. Now you have to understand that the fact that I can actually run any distance on the treadmill is a miracle unto itself. I swear, sometimes I'm sure that I'm a little "special" when it comes to tasks that require coordination because it seems to take me a while to get the hang of them. One such example was the treadmill. It took several attempts and encouragement from Timmy to feel comfortable on the treadmill. So now a few times each week I plop myself onto the treadmill and wonder if I can make it through what comes next. I've mastered the actual running portion so I can remain upright and moving fluidly on the conveyor belt. The problem is that I've set a goal of doing that for thirty minutes at a time. My first day at the gym I had no idea what to expect because although I'd slowly worked up to running two miles at a time when we lived in Bozeman I hadn't been running since then. Yeah. Running is great at showing you how out of shape you are. That first day I swiped my membership card and made my way over to one of the treadmills. After situating my water bottle, sunglasses,  and phone with headphones attached I couldn't put it off any longer. The moment of truth had come and it was time. I started out slow and you know what? It was hard. I was barely moving on the conveyor and still it was kicking my butt. Throughout the workout I tried to keep my eye off the clock because I've learned that will drive you absolutely insane. You watch the seconds tick by and I'm sure that they seem to slow as you go. Ahh! I also tried to focus on my breathing because my lungs were screaming, "What are you doing to us??!!! This. Is. Agony!". By the end of the thirty minutes I was completely drenched in sweat but I couldn't have been more proud. I ran, albeit slowly, the WHOLE time! I want to emphasize I RAN that! Me, the non athlete who's never been able to run. Never ever. I made a note in my phone about distance and time as this would serve as a place from which to start. A time to beat - if such a thing was possible.

Since then I've been running a few days a week and always feel great afterwards. Understand that I still struggle with each and every workout. That is, bouts where I feel like I'm going to hyperventilate, stitches in my sides and shoulders complete with sore knees, ankles and toe joints. This is what happens when you start running after thirty. Pain and struggle aside I feel like this has been a huge accomplishment for me, something I never thought would be possible. Now I'm working, very slowly, towards what will seem like a small goal: running a 5k (just over 3 miles) in 30 minutes. But for me this is an ambitious goal and I'm hoping to reach it within the next few weeks. Maybe. I've been making small bits of progress with each run but am afraid that I will hit a plateau sometime soon.

Like I said I've known lots of people who run and enjoy it. They talk about "runner's highs" and how great it feels. It will come as no surprise that I have yet to experience such euphoria when I run. So far it's all struggle and sweat dripping in my eyes. The only thing that has had any tinge of joy in it when it comes to running is that I'm starting to run a bit faster and am "hitting strides" for stretches of the run. I'm not optimistic about experiencing a high from running but stranger things have happened. For one, me running.