image from Wikipedia
When I was a kid, I remember our elementary school was working to run to Atlanta, Georgia for the Olympics. So every morning after saying the Pledge of Allegiance, our class would go out and run around the field. Every lap was 1/4 mile, and we would all report how many laps we made (running or walking). Mr. Short would walk 2 laps, and that was how long we were out there. I would usually run a lap or so to catch up to the group with Mr. Short so I would end up with 3 laps, and sometimes would stretch myself to get 4. I don't remember if our class won or not, but I remember that sometimes during lunchtime recess I would just run another 3-5 laps. I loved it! I even ran a couple years of elementary school cross country (where you did one race).
Then in middle school, P.E. meant locker rooms, sweat, frizzy hair, and all of those other nasty things. It wasn't as fun anymore, and if you made it into marching band you didn't have to do it in 8th grade.
By the time I hit high school P.E. (which I took during the summer), we had to run a mile a day, and I got really bad shin splints at the beginning of the summer semester, and they lasted that entire semester. It was pretty miserable, and my mile time actually got slower during that time because of the shin splints. My other semester I did through the community college and basically played around in a gym and sort of learned racquetball (but mostly gave my sister a few concussions).
Come college I knew I wasn't really fit, so when I was invited to play Ultimate Frisbee or Racquetball, I usually declined my freshman year, especially after rolling my ankle pretty badly. Then sophomore year, my good friend Richard convinced me I could do it, and so I did. I would play Ultimate Frisbee on Monday nights (and I would make sure and get lots of running in even if I wasn't passed the disc a lot), Racquetball on Wednesday or Thursday, and then again on Saturday morning. For awhile I would even go to the gym on Tuesday and Thursday mornings with my friend Michelle to do a good run on the elliptical.
I even played in a soccer tournament at the NAU sky dome where our team (Team Vacuum) cleaned the house! To win the tournament we played the 1 team (out of 6) that we lost to, and it was amazing.
Then came along Matthias, and between a really busy semester and wanting to see him all the time, Ultimate Frisbee was dropped, and Matthias and I would occasionally play racquetball, or do other outdoorsy activities.
When we got married I did buy a bike so that I didn't have to walk the mile and a half to school, and we tried to do racquetball every Friday night, but sometimes we just couldn't justify letting our Friday nights go from studying. (We are nerds. And school was hard.)
When I got pregnant, that short bike ride to school started feeling longer and longer. When it got to the point where I just felt miserable by the time I got to school, I begged the Institute to let me park there, since I mostly needed it in the afternoon on the days I didn't actually have class. I think I quit riding my bike in about April of last year, and haven't done much cardio since, aside from a little bit of Wii Fit.
Anyway, so the point of this post is that I am starting to run. Turns out that there are shoes that will give me the right support so that I don't get shin splints while running, so I got some. I'm doing a program called Couch to 5K, which starts out as if you've been sitting on the couch like a blob, and after 9 weeks you will be able to run a 5K, or 30 minutes straight, no problem.
Last Saturday I did my first run. It was fun, easy, and I didn't get shin splints. It also didn't completely wear me out, so it gave me more energy. I even did it while I was coming down with a virus that would leave me horribly sick for the next few days-week. So...I'm starting again next week, and hopefully I'll be all the way better by then.
Matthias and I also started a program that will help us do 100 push-ups. Push-ups are really one of the best upper-body workouts you can do, and I could do a measly 2 on day one. It slowly works you up to 100 over 8 weeks. I started on the lowest level, and it hasn't been to bad, especially since I do girl-style and on my knuckles (because I have bad wrists). We did it 2 nights, and then were too sore from our sickness, so we'll start back up next week. Seriously, after 2 sessions I can feel a difference in the muscle to flab ratio of my arms.
Do you want to join us in getting healthier?
Couch to 5K
One Hundred Push Ups
And, so that you don't have to keep track of time while running, there are a few podcasts (or mp3s) that you can download where they tell you (with music or no music) what you should be doing, when, and they even give you a little encouragement along the way. (There are even more out there, including some with no music and just the cues, so you can mix your own music in).
Robert Ullray
Running Into Shape
Are you with me to a healthier, more energetic lifestyle?
