One foot, then the other

[bewize]

I just ran for 25 minutes straight. Actually, I lost track of the time and I'm pretty sure it was closer to 30 minutes, but the crazy thing is that I could have kept going. I didn't because I needed to shower and work and come here and brag about myself. *LOL*

I cannot believe that a month and a half ago, running for 3 minutes nearly killed me. I feel SO MUCH BETTER now. (Okay, my feet hurt, but the rest of me feels amazing!) Then, I stepped on the scale and discovered that I've lost nearly 10 lbs since starting this program. That's without controlling my diet much at all. It's official. This exercise thing works.

I went out and ran through the neighborhoods. It was an awesome experience. People said hi. I heard a white man tell his little girl that I was "running and exercising and that I was doing a good thing." I passed an elderly Korean man that I've seen running the same neighborhoods. He was walking today, but he grinned at me and waved. There was a Chinese couple in the park who both smiled and waved when I ran by. There was a black lady running with me who said, "You can do it, girl! Keep going!"

It reminded me of several things - one, I frigging love my city. I mean, I ran within a mile radious of my house and it was like running down an international boulevard. Also, I love the way people smiled and encouraged. I don't know if this is a Southern thing, an exercise thing, or just a random Wednesday morning thing, but it was awesome. Lastly, I love the fact that I'm a runner now.

Why yes, I DID just say that. I'm a runner.

I run.

I go outside, I huff and puff and I sweat and I grit my teeth at the hills and I smile at the people with their dogs and I run.

I won't lie. I was glad to stop when the alarm on the iPod said I could, but it was amazing to realize that I didn't HAVE to stop. I could keep going. And I plan to keep going. I'm done with all the interval parts of my training and I'm just to the "go and run for a long time" part of the training. In another 2.5 weeks, I'll be done with it. (I ended up a week off somewhere between knee pain, 100* weather, and rain.) I'm going to run a 5K in September and another in October. And I may go ahead and start training for the 10K program, too.

I still have a secret goal of being able to run a marathon someday. And you know what? For the first time in my life, I think I just might be able to do it.

Also, someone suggested that we should all be able to do anything required of the police or military in case we have to outrun them at some point. I laughed, until I realized that in my life... that's not really beyond the realm of possibility.

Plus, you know, fast zombies. Vampires who don't sparkle in the sun. Rabid werewolves. I have to be faster than all those things, too. Just in case.

I know a few people have started the C25K program and I wish you all the best with it. It's really worked for me. Really worked, actually. I'm healthier and happier than I've been in a year.

And that's a frigging long time. XD

Cheers!

Comments

[haruka]

Congratulations and go you! :D It's hard to keep an exercise program going, so it's great to find one that you actually like, making it easier to keep at it.

There's a Zombie Survival Guide out there that might include running as a defense, have to check next time I'm in the book store. And it may still be best to run from the sparkling vampires, too; some of them are faster and nastier than the traditional ones.

[bewize]

Hee. I will likely run from all vampires, but there are no sparkly ones in Georgia. They'd blind us all and it'd be a dead giveaway!

Do you watch True Blood? I'm about ready to dive into that and it strikes me as something you might like. :)

[haruka]

I haven't seen it yet but my wife has had it downloaded for a long time. She only recently got started on watching it and says the first season was good, but the second is so far off the books that she's disappointed. I haven't read the books, so maybe I'd like it more.

[sid]

u r awesome!

[bewize]

EEEEEEEEEEEE.

Thanks!

[somnolentblue]

That's awesome! Congratulations!

I dropped it when it got hot enough that going out was risking illness (sadly, there aren't enough street lights to make night jaunts feasible), but I'm hoping to try again when I'm somewhere that's a little less heat-stroke risking.

[bewize]

Thanks!

I finally decided that nothing short of injury was going to keep me from running. I feel you about the heat, though. It's been upper 90s here, with an index over 100 for the past month.

I keep hoping that means it 'll be easier when it's cooler!