I Don't Run

I've always said I don't run.  I hate running.  When I was younger, I got shin splits and/or headaches every time I had to run for gym.  I always wondered why people would want to do something that caused so much pain.  I like walking - I can walk with no problem.  But running?  No thanks.

Last year, my sister encouraged me to do some 5Ks.  I figured, ok, it's something she and my Mom and I could do together.  They can run, and I'll walk.  The first 5K was kind of traumatic.  It was the Alma Highland Festival 5K which is an hour and a half before the parade.  I didn't think about all the people getting their places early for the parade so it was kind of a shock to walk through town with a ton of people watching me!  My time for that 5K was 45:57.

Then I did an evening 5K.  That one was at dusk along the Rail Trail.  It was nice, and under the cover of darkness I thought I'd try my hand (or legs, as the case may be) at running.  Now when I say "running", I really mean jogging...slowly.  Still, my time at that 5K was 45:27.  So running saved me 30 seconds.  Woo hoo.

Can you hear the sarcasm?

I'm not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the line I decided to try to like running.  Or at least not hate it.  In January, I started the Couch 2 5K training program.  That's when I discovered that I CAN run more than 30 seconds at a time without passing out.  And my shin splits eventually went away.

I'm not at the point where I love running yet, but I don't hate it anymore.  In fact, sometimes I find myself actually wanting to run.  It doesn't hurt that running earns WAY more Activity Points than walking on Weight Watchers, but it's a feeling of accomplishment, too.

I ran (jogged) a 5K on Saturday.  My official time?  39:10.  I'm so proud of myself!  I didn't run it all, but I ran as much as I could.  Okay, truth be told, I could have run more.  But I also ran faster than I did when training so I still consider that a success.

I'm forcing myself to run the Highland Festival 5K this year.  Actually run (ok, jog).  Through town.  With people watching.  Maybe I'll run faster to escape all the attention.  Or maybe I'll do my best and call it good again.  And eventually learn to love running after all.