I have never been a runner. When I had PT tests and stuff for the fire department, I always came in right at the time limit; if we had to run an 8 minute mile I did it in 7:58. The longest I ever ran in one single stretch was a mile and a half. Ever, in my whole life.
This summer I decided to start running so that instead of dropping my middle daughter off at cross country practice I could stay and work out too, maybe even participate in one of the community run/walks they do during the year. Well I made the mistake of mentioning this to the kids, and the oldest asked, "so which run did you sign up for?" I had a lot of excuses. She was relentless.
I decided I better find a training plan and get going. There seemed to be two choices (other than "just run"). Both plans were based on running for a set amount, then walking for a set amount - then repeating and increasing the intensity. And that's where I got stuck. Did I want the plan that went by miles? What if I added a quarter mile each week like it said but couldn't do the whole 5k by the event? If I chose the plan that went by time, what if I built up my time to run for 40 minutes, but that turned out to be only 2 miles? All you runners are rolling your eyes and laughing at my dilemma - just like my sister did.
I decided I needed to map out a 5K and go running. I really had no concept of how far that was to run or how fast I could walk it. Turns out, I was worrying over nothing. Not only did I run the whole thing, I did 3 miles in 36 minutes... 12-13 minute miles. A few weeks of that, and I'll be all set to go for the November event. And I found out I actually kind of LIKE running.
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