I can't run. That is what I have always told myself.
I think I must have asthma. Seriously, I can only make it a minute or two, and I can't go any further. And yet, I see people flying down my street all the time on their runs. I have friend after friend after friend who all LOVE to run. What?! Why would anyone
want to run? I didn't get it.
One of my 2011 goals was "learn to run". As I...
ahem...mature, I'm starting to realize that things have to be
learned. I guess I just assumed that all (female) human beings just naturally knew how to bake bread, sew, and, um...run. And since I didn't know how to do those things, that meant that I "wasn't good at them".
Because they should somehow come naturally??? I don't know if that makes sense. Anyway, I have finally learned that
things have to be learned. We're not born knowing how to do these things, even something as seemingly natural as running.
So 9 weeks ago, I downloaded the
Couch to 5k app to my phone. I'd heard lots of good things about it, and looking at week one (walk 1 minute, run 1 minute....repeat), I thought...
I can do that! And I did. Week 2 I walked 90 seconds, ran 90 seconds (repeat). I was nervous to jump up to 3 minute runs the next week, but I did it. But 5 minutes?
I can't do that. But I did it.
I started to get very excited to see that I was
actually capable of doing something hard. I don't do hard things! My
entire life's work is avoiding hard things! Pushing out a baby is the hardest thing I've done, and I do that as fully medicated as allowed! But, hmm, I could actually push my body beyond what I felt were my limits. Yes, I know running 5 minutes is not a huge achievement for most people, but for me, it was huge.
In the coming weeks, the runs jumped into the teens. I was skeptical. But I did it. At the end of week 6 (of 9 weeks), I was up to 25 minutes and a friend talked me into doing a 5k with her.
But I'm not done with the program yet! I can't do it. But I decided to
do it.
My only goal for the 5k was to run every step, no matter how slow, no matter how long it took. I'm not really a competitive person, so it didn't bother me at first that I pretty much felt like a sinking stone. The people were streaming past me and I was just there, chugging along. It started to get amusing when the Mamas with the jogging strollers started passing me. Then it got hilarious when the
regular strollers went flying past, but I kept on my slow & steady pace. It took me around 37 minutes (12+ minute pace), but I did it! I was pretty astonished that I, ME,
Natalie had actually run for 37 minutes straight.
That left 3 weeks to go in the program, increasing from 25 minutes to 28 and then to 30. Chug chug chug. And today, I finished my 27th run, my final couch to 5k run!
I have to say (again, I know this is a small achievement!) I felt like I was running a big ol' victory lap out there today.
I actually did it! Started something and finished it. Did something hard, that I didn't think I could do. Pretty sweet.
And if that's not enough for you, here are some more running tidbits:
- While I thought I'd battle with my mind (i.e., commitment, stamina), I've actually battled with my body! That's what happens when you're lazy for 33 years of your life. I've struggled and struggled with my knees. I've had to take days off, I've tried every stretch, new shoes, insoles, icing them, blah blah blah, it's been a big struggle.
- I've received some awesome advice from all my runner friends, but I think my favorite is from my friend's husband, who is a marathoner: don't quit! There will be pain, there will be injury, but don't just say "I can't run, it hurts my knees.". It does get better. So I'm sticking with it! Per Jillian Michaels (in my yoga DVD), I'm "getting comfortable with being uncomfortable".
- Music has definitely made all the difference in my runs. I never did figure out how to make my music play in the order I specified...it shuffled it up every time. So, in no specific order:
Your Surrender - Neon Trees
Till The World Ends - Britney Spears
Ready to Go - Panic! at The Disco
Price Tag - Jessie J
Send Somebody - Colin Hay
More - Usher
Beautiful World - Jim Brickman & Adam Crossley
The Cave - Mumford & Sons
Raise Your Glass - Pink
Human - The Killers
- Quite the mix, right? Although I'm usually not big on pop music, I had heard (and found it to be totally right on) that it's great for running. So there we go...pop central! Anyway, that's about 38ish minutes, perfect for a 5 minute warm up and a few minutes of cool down. Of them all, I have to say that I was always relieved when Human or More came on. Very motivational! And the lyrics to The Cave always helped me along, too..."I'll find strength in pain and I will change my ways."(!)
- I had lots of a-ha moments out there on the sidewalk. Lots of you are right here, right now, do you feel that moments. It reminded me how lucky I am to be here, to be living this life, to be doing the things that I'm doing. Goose bumps while dripping sweat is always cool.
- The physical transformation has been...well, judging from that photo above, maybe all in my head! But no, it hasn't. After having Maya & Mason, I lost the baby weight, but not the belly. I never lost the baby weight after I had Simon...I went straight into Lucy's pregnancy. And I had resigned myself to the fact that my body had changed and that, sniff sniff, I would never wear a fitted tee again! I just thought the belly fat was here to stay, no matter what. And while there's still (obviously) some to pinch, there's a heck of a lot less than there was. And although I don't weigh myself (no scales allowed in this house!), I am positive that I've lost weight. Belly has gone down, legs have slimmed up, face isn't quite so round. I'm pretty astonished. I didn't think I'd actually see a physical difference. So hooray for that bonus!
- Ice is my best friend. Along with Ibuprofen. No pain, no gain, I guess?
So what's next? Keep on keeping on! I think I'll stick with the 30 minute runs for now and see if I can get my pace into the 10 minute range, at least. I'm quite the turtle out there! But, slow & steady, baby! I can't see myself ever wanting to run a marathon or anything crazy like that, but definitely some more 5ks and maybe even a 10k when I'm ready to push a little harder. Mainly, I just want to keep working with these knees and keep getting stronger.
So the final takeaway?
I am stronger than I thought I was. I can do more than I thought I could. I will see you out there on the road, huffing and puffing along. Woo hoo! I AM a runner!
