May--Rave Run (pg 15)

guest — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:16:26 GMT

My plan = run every time I read an article in Runner's World; read the entire magazine each month for 4 months

My hope = to end 4 months healthier and smaller and happier; and then keep going

My reasoning = seemed like a good idea at the time

I am not a real runner. Let's get that out of the way right now. I am a halting, shuffling, slow person who shambles painfully when I pick up my speed past a walk. My husband is the runner in this family, and I sometimes jog. But, that doesn't change the fact that each month, when Runner's World magazine appears in our mailbox, I am the one who reads it cover to cover like a book. I curl up in a comfortable place and read about people doing amazing things that require strength I wish I posessed. I read about people running 50 miles, about a guy who was hit by a car and still ran a marathon a year later, about a woman still recovering from a traumatic brain injury, and about the runs of countless others overcoming cancer or simply old age. I read the reviews and newbie chronicles like an addict, waiting to see what will happen next, although I strongly suspect that at this point the "Newbie" is more of a middle-bie since he's running longer than any new runner I know can. I read the shoe reviews as if I were going to buy them all, even though I know that the only thing I wear are my Mizunos, which fit like they're made for me. I read the whole entire thing, even the ads in the back.

The problem is that I do not get up and run. To be fair, I jog occaisonally. I jogged a lot once, even completing the Great Aloha Run of 8 miles with minimal walking and catching up to one of my runner friends (that was a triumphand moment). I use the term "jog" specifically, intentionally, and not derisively. I hesitate to call my movement running because my mother can walk faster than I run, so I call it jogging. I would love to move faster, but I don't, so it's a jog. Nothing wrong with it, at least it's moving.

That said, I do not jog enough. I started tracking my exercise a month ago, and since then have managed 11 moments of exercise, including walking. While this is better than my completely sedentary coworkers, it is not exactly impressive, nor does it quite do anything to improve my aerobic capacity, since I probably jogged 2 times in that 11, and even then it would have been for 30 seconds or so a time.

I have been very fat (pushing 200lbs) and I have been very thin (around 110). I have been healthy and graceful (a ballet dancer for over half of my life), and now weak and tired and shambling. I do not lift weights, I do not run, I do not dance. But, I read Runner's World cover to cover every month. This month, I was curled up on the couch with the May edition in hand when it hit me: I need to run. I need to make this a game. So, I decided to run my way through each month's magazine. I would randomly read an article, then had to go running before reading another. It was a great idea! Inspired, I got up, went upstairs and. . .got distracted by a random pile of laundry.

Two weeks later, I found the magazine while getting ready for work. I flipped randomly to "Rave Run" on page 15, and saw a beautiful picture of Lake Tahoe, in Nevada with a small runner in the left foreground so small he was an afterthought. I read about the 4.5 mile trail and wondered if it lead to the water. If not, it seemed pointless because I would enjoy the beauty but want to swim at the end.

As I started to flip to another article, I cursed quietly. I'd read an article. Time to "run." So, I put on my workout gear and went outside for a quick walk/jog. It was shambling and mostly walking with 3 running segments of about 30 seconds to 1 minute long. Nothing I would call a run. The first time I picked up my speed, I hurt. My steps were short and my knees ached. I didn't even want to think about what it looked like. I slowed to a walk and moved on into the next neighborhood, where I waved at the early risers (it was about 6:30), and tried picking up speed in a cul de sac. This time was a little better. I lengthened my stride and it hurt less and felt more like running. Then third time was on the way back, a quick loop around the same area I did the first little speed up. Again, it felt better, and I remembered how it felt when I was smaller and fitter. . .and then I ground to a walk that carried me through the rest of the walk.

According to Runkeeper, the run was 18 minutes and 7 seconds long, my average mile was 16 minutes 21 seconds, and I went 1.11 total miles. Yep, that's it. Embarrassing, huh? My fastest section was a 11 minute 29 second pace. . .like I said, my mom walks faster than that. I'm not sure I could have had a lower bottom from which to climb without having a catastrophic accident. Still, I moved, if only barely.

Speaking of bottoms. . .here's the rest of it:

RHR: 75-99 (it fluctuates)

Weight: 173.4

Waist: 34"

Hips: 44.5:

BF% (for what it's worth. . .I got it off my scale, so that's not exactly scientific): 35%

Head: off. . I just feel off, and I am sad often and miss how I felt when I was fit.

That's it. . .let's see how it works out.

Blog Posts From "running" through Runner's World Tagged With runners

May--Rave Run (pg 15)