Blog From A Broad

the running diaries, week 1

On Sunday, July 2 (the day after our Canada Day BBQ, at which point I will be hungover and bloated) I will be running the 5k Race for Life. That's right, running. I should explain that I loathe running and in fact, I'm not even that fond of walking. The only walking I enjoy is on beaches or if I decide to embark on a journey from the sofa to the fridge, and my husband is not available to make the trek for me. When sadistic gym teachers forced us to take part in a diabolical form of torture called "cross country", I would wave my inhaler at them and wheeze heavily to get out of it. I. Hate. Running.

So this week, I started running. It hasn't been too bad, actually. I'm following the Runner's World's 5k beginner's training programme and have just finished week one. With just over 8 weeks to go, I hope to get to the point where I can a) finish the race in less than an hour and b) finish the race without dropping dead. Not asking for much, really.

Week one in summary: I followed the run/walk training format when I trained for the Moonwalk in 2003, and very surprisingly, I felt better my first session this time than I did three years ago. All that toddler lifting must be accomplishing something - and the fact that I'm on a superduper new inhaler (it's purple and has a counter). After the first session, my legs hurt. After the second session, my legs hurt. After the third session, my legs sort of hurt. I couldn't make it through today's session because my asthma was getting grumpy. I'm thrilled to be able to run for a couple of minutes fairly easily, but at this point, cannot imagine running non-stop for more than about five minutes. On race day, I hope to run for approximately 40 minutes non-stop. I know, I'm laughing too.