Starting Line

Gotta start somewhere, right?

I ran track in junior high. Not all that well, really. I was on the 4x800 relay team and ran the 800 but that was about it. I was nothing special. I come from a family of runners: Father was a cross country guy, sister was a cross country girl, and brother was a sprinter. I am the odd (wo)man out; I'm certainly not fast and as of right now, my longest run has only been about 6.5 miles. Oops, getting ahead of myself here.

After junior high, I decided to go the lazy route and become a wrestling cheerleader (sit on my butt and clap my hands? Ok!). I pretty much stopped running for good. I have been blessed with great genetics so in high school and college I rarely excercised. I can tell now, at the age of 27, that my metabolism has slowed down some, and I have started to work out again.

I joined a gym in February 2007 and have been going 3-4 times a week. I generally lift weights, do squats, use some of the machines, and do HIIT on the treadmill.

I signed up for a 5K in May, but ended up not going after I was unable to convince anyone to run it with me. (And, I didn't want to go by myself. I'm lame.)

A couple of months ago, I signed up for a July 4th 10K. In hindsight, I was not really prepared at all. I had only run over 6 miles a few (and I mean FEW... maybe 3?) times and it was a really hard course. I had been told that there were 3 hills (and the 10K was the course x2... so 6 hills) but little did I know they would feel like mountains.

I was nervous for the race yesterday... had to pee before the race started but didn't go... so that was uncomfortable. I was lucky enough to run with a very skilled and seasoned runner, who was nice enough to slow his pace down and stick with me. If he had not have been there, I probably would have stopped after the first 5K (which is what many runners did). My goal was to run the 10K in under an hour, and unfortunately, I failed. My time was 1:00:10. So, I was almost there... but not quite. I did have to walk at two different points... the hills were just insane.

I'm a little discouraged with myself and am vowing to improve. I'd like to do more races and get in better running shape. I want to do less running on the treadmill at the gym, and get out and about more often. I live in a great neighborhood with lots of sidewalks, so I really have no excuses!

Well, except one... I'm really sore from all those hills so I'll have to postpone my next run until tomorrow!

I do believe I'm going to run a 15K at the end of September. I used the Smart Coach on Runner's World to create a (pretty aggressive) training plan. I'd like to complete the 15K with 5 minute miles. I've been told that the course is pretty flat... which is music to my ears after yesterday's mountains!