Thursday, January 03, 2008
Baby steps, man.
I'm in a "Couch to 5k" unning program. It's designed to get the sedentary runner-wannabe off the couch and into running. I was a runner in high school but that was over 20 years ago. I scoffed at the plan and how seemingly easy it was going to be. I considered skipping a few weeks to really get a jump on things. I was scolded and told to do the program as written. It's not just that perhaps my cardio-vascular system could handle jumping ahead, it's that my long-intactive joints and muscles would pay a price for starting too fast. When I think back to previous attmepts at starting back running, I remember that that's what kept me from continuing. I was getting horrible shin splints and I'd stop running. I'm in Week 5 of the program and I've been injury-free so far. Maybe they had a point.
I've been running at the State Gym track (12 laps/mile) since it's winter where I am. I wouldn't mind running in the cold. It's the icy roads that are preventing me from getting out there. The problem with track running, especially on a short track, is that it's just so freaking tedious. Plus, since it's early January, we have every resolution maker in there trying to do the same thing I am. It's almost impossible to settle into a pace and just pound out the distance. I'm always getting passed by some octogenarian with a hairy back.
I've been running at the State Gym track (12 laps/mile) since it's winter where I am. I wouldn't mind running in the cold. It's the icy roads that are preventing me from getting out there. The problem with track running, especially on a short track, is that it's just so freaking tedious. Plus, since it's early January, we have every resolution maker in there trying to do the same thing I am. It's almost impossible to settle into a pace and just pound out the distance. I'm always getting passed by some octogenarian with a hairy back.
