So this is what a good run feels like.

I have read that even a bad day is a good day if it starts with a good run. Ok, so my run today probably doesn’t qualify, but I swear I got a taste of that runner’s high.

Today was the first day that I ran more than I walked. In fact I ran a good lot of the time. It was pretty awesome. I think about the first time I ran, back in November. It felt like I was sucking wind. After just a few feet, my throat was raw, my legs hurt, my side hurt, and I’m pretty sure every other body part hurt. I’ve been running pretty religiously the past month and there have been times I wondered if I would ever really be a runner. I could see some gains - faster pace, the ability to run farther and longer - but they have been so microscopic that it didn’t feel like I was really going anywhere. Today that all changed.

Today I felt like a runner. Running was easier than it’s ever been. I felt like I had really good form a lot of the time. When I did slow down to walk, I’d get right back into running after walking only partway around the track. My goal today was to run 2 miles. I set a goal in January of 15 miles and I was at 13. I wanted to get 2 miles in tonight in case something happens and I can’t get out tomorrow. By the time I got to 1.8 miles I was beat. Nothing hurt, which is amazing, but I was high on endorphins and starting to feel exhausted. I didn’t think I could do even another lap, so I veered off the track and went to put on my jacket. Here’s where the marathon analogy comes in. I told myself I only had 0.2 miles to go. I decided I was going to do that 0.2 even if it killed me. (Why is a marathon 26.2 rather than 26 miles anyway?) I made myself walk the last 0.2 miles so I could make my goal and I did it. I did it, and I am darn proud, although I probably shouldn’t have. I felt dizzy and wobbly and kind of like throwing up when I was done, but I made my goal.

I guess that makes me a runner.

I need new shoes.

I still have a fair amount of shin pain when I run. I'm a wimp so when it gets bad enough I quit. I'd rather that than get injured. I have no doubt that when I get really comfortable with the Chi Running form some of that will go away, but I know I need new shoes.

I have a friend who practices barefoot running with shoes. She began after reading this article in Men's Health (long but worth the read). My friend runs in Nike Frees.

I admit I've been eyeing these shoes for awhile. They look so cool, and hey, even Paula Radcliffe wears them. In fact the only things keeping me from buying them are (1) I'm broke, and (2) I hear a lot about how Nikes aren't great shoes. The runners I know don't like them. But I figure they're not famous because they're crappy, so when I have the money I'll at least try on a pair and see what I think.

Different this time.

I just finished reading the most amazing book. The author’s website is Running With Angels. This woman was in my head. All the weird thoughts I have about food, she had. All the desperation, she felt it. It has been very therapeutic for me to read of her experiences and try and follow along with my real life.

She lost 100 lbs with WW and exercise, so I joined WW. I am eating sooo much less and staying within my points. I haven’t been able to do this in years.

She started out unable to run more than a few steps, and she runs marathons now. I am a beginning, slow runner & I can feel that I am getting stronger each time. I’ve always disliked running, now I do it every day. If I don’t, I’m miserable and antsy. As an added bonus running is causing me to think of food as fuel and not comfort anymore. It’s incredible. I didn’t think I could do it, not deep down in my heart. Now I don’t think anything can stop me.

All those other times I’ve tried to lose weight, it never lasted long. I have never been this committed before. I don’t know why it’s different, but it is.

Here is a good article for beginning runners, or people who are thinking about running.

Yesterday I went running. I couldn’t get the form right and after 3 laps my lower legs were really hurting. I was able to run both sides of the lap though, and walked just around the curve at the top and bottom of the track. So I’m making progress. I just wish I could do it without it hurting.

According to the Chi Running book, it takes 1-3 months to learn the form. I hope that practice makes perfect because when I’m in the groove, running is awesome. Nothing hurts and I just feel good. Most of the time though, something must be off because everything hurts. By the end of my workout my legs want to give out and I’m hoping I make it to the car. My knees especially hurt.

I’m getting better though. Yesterday I was able to run the length of the track without stopping. I’d run one side, and then walk around the loop back to my starting point, then run again. It’s somewhat embarrassing, that I’ve been doing this so long and I still can’t even run one full lap. Maybe I could if my life depended on it, but I don’t know. I can see that I’m able to run faster and farther each time, so I won’t complain. It’s my hope that by not going all out I won’t get burned out and give up. Because I don’t know if I’ve ever stuck with it this long.

My January goal is to run 15 miles and I’m up to 9.6 so far. It feels great.

My running goals

I thought it would be a good idea to list my running goals here, both short and long term. (No laughing!)

1. I will be able to run one lap around the track without stopping.
2. I will be able to run three laps around the track without stopping.
3. I will be able to run one mile without stopping.
4. I will run the 5k Freedom Festival race in July (without stopping?)
5. I will run a marathon in the summer or fall of 2008 OR I will do a biathalon in the summer or fall of 2008.

I admit it. I don’t understand the Nike+ website. I love uploading my runs, and I love looking at the little graphs and such, but none of it makes any sense to me. Runs that I know were 8-10 minutes per mile appear to be 17 minutes per mile. When I click on the icon to compare my runs it sometimes works and more often does not. How it chooses which runs to compare is beyond me. I’m frustrated because I don’t understand how to use the site, and as far as I can tell there are no instructions.

Today I tried to incorporate some of the Chi Running focuses and it was pretty neat. When I was able to get into the right form, running really did feel almost effortless (just like the book claims). My time also went from 10 min/mile to 8 min/mile, so that was exciting. A lot of the time I just couldn’t get the form correct and so for most of my run/walk my knees hurt, my shins, hurt, my side ached, and my abs hurt. (That’s another thing about Chi Running, you use your core muscles instead of your legs. Which is cool but I don’t think I have any core muscles to use.) It was exciting that I was able to run further and faster than I have before now.

I’m pretty proud of myself that I have kept this up and I am getting better every day.

Much ado about running.

According to the Chi Running book, it takes 1-3 months to learn the form. I hope that practice makes perfect because when I’m in the groove, running is awesome. Nothing hurts and I just feel good. Most of the time though, something must be off because everything hurts. By the end of my workout my legs want to give out and I’m hoping I make it to the car. My knees especially hurt.

I’m getting better though. Yesterday I was able to run the length of the track without stopping. I’d run one side, and then walk around the loop back to my starting point, then run again. It’s somewhat embarrassing, that I’ve been doing this so long and I still can’t even run one full lap. Maybe I could if my life depended on it, but I don’t know. I can see that I’m able to run faster and farther each time, so I won’t complain. It’s my hope that by not going all out I won’t get burned out and give up. Because I don’t know if I’ve ever stuck with it this long.

My January goal is to run 15 miles and I’m up to 9.6 so far. It feels good.

I’m doing pretty good with the running, meaning that I do it at least every other day, often every day. I’m still only halfway through the Chi Running book, but I can tell that I’m running more efficiently. My short term goal is to run one lap without stopping, which I still can’t do. My longer term goal is to run 3 miles without stopping.

Chi Running

I've been reading the book and today was the first day I started to implement some of what I'm learning. I focused on the first of 4 steps, my form. I tried to make my column (core) strong and straight, and it was harder than it sounds. After 8 babies my abdominal muscles are very weak, and just a few minutes into it my abs were starting to ache. My legs did much better though. My shins and knees didn't hurt until the very end.

The last couple of times I’ve run my legs have really hurt afterward. I’ve been going every other day to give myself time to recover. Today my shins were hurting so much that I mostly stuck to walking, and I ended my workout 10 minutes earlier than I normally would.

I’ve been checking out the Chi Running website which claims that with proper form, it’s possible to run without injury or pain. From what I can tell the change in posture means that you move forward using your core muscles and not your legs. It’s an interesting idea. My sister told me about it once before, but she’s been running for so long that she hasn’t adopted the new form, so she couldn’t comment a whole lot on it.

I have the book and I’m going to start reading it over the weekend. I imagine that a lot of my pain is because of my weight and the fact that I’m still new at this. If I can do it without pain though, that will make it that much easier to stick with.

Shin splints

I haven't been running long and my shins are already hurting. I've been running (jogging) on alternate days to allow my legs recovery time. Yesterday my shins hurt so much I spent most of my workout walking, and even then I quit early because I was in a lot of pain.

My sister was telling me about the book Chi Running, so I picked up a copy and will start reading this weekend.

Running

All my life I've wanted to be a runner, and all my life I've hated running. Recently I was reading a blog of an acquaintance of mine. She's been running for a year and lost an insane amount of weight, I'm thinking around 80 lbs. In her blog she said that she had always been a chubby kid, had always hated running. That gave me hope.

Laura's blog inspired me to get the Nike+ iPod kit. This time around, I know I'm going to make it. I'm really starting to enjoy running, and I understand why people say its addicting.
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I'm not very good at it yet. I can't run very long or very far without stopping to walk. But each time I run I find I'm a little faster, or I can run a little further. I'm really psyched.

So I've linked to a couple of running blogs in the side bar, so that I will remember to read them regularly for inspiration.

I like this.

I'm getting better at this running thing. I still have to stop and walk alot of the time, but I can run faster and for longer stretches. My first goal is to be able to run 3 miles without stopping.

I love Nike+ and I love seeing the graph of my runs.

Nike + iPod. I love it. I hate it.

I’ve been using the Nike+ kit with my iPod nano for a month or so now and I have this love/hate relationship going on with it. For the most part I love it. It keeps track of the distance, time, and average pace of my runs. I can listen to my music and any time I hit the center button - which is easy to find with the Nike armband - I hear my stats in my ear. When I come home I upload the info via iTunes - again, very easy to do - and the Nike+ site graphs my run and compares it to previous runs.

The best part is that I can participate in challenges with other Nike+ users which motivate me to run more frequently and further. This is one great product, especially considering it only costs $30.

Last week I used my nano just like always and everything was fine. When I came home and tried to upload the data, there was nothing on my nano. My last 3 runs, which I hadn’t yet uploaded, had disappeared, along with my music. I called Apple support & even took it into the Apple store but nothing could be retrieved. I’ve spent several hours over the past few days trying to get more music onto my nano. It poses a problem that we use iTunes on 3 different computers, and they don’t all have the same operating system.

I’ve lost some of the songs I loved and can’t access them in iTunes unless I pay again. But I have some music on there now, and I was able to get out and run again today.

I’ve never been a runner. I’ve always wished I was, but I have always hated running. This time around I kind of like it, and that’s pretty exciting.

Today was my best run ever, as far as time and distance. My legs hurt, though. They were hurting as soon as I stopped running (and during, now that I think of it).