Yes, after giving up last summer at the three week mark, I have now decided to give this whole running thing another go.
Mostly because Andrew and our friend Steph are doing it. I'm a sucker for peer pressure.
Also because I bought sneakers. It seems like a colossal waste of money not to use them.
Finally, I am revisiting the possibility of becoming a runner because I no longer work M-F and can go running at the same time as Andrew and Steph on Thursdays and Sundays.
Tomorrow is the last day of WEEK TWO OF RUNNING (couch to 5k interval training). We're considering the Zombies, run! running program. Yes you heard me. You can do interval training while running away from zombies, collecting gear and saving the world. BADASS! Andrew feels that the couch to 5k version isn't as good as our regular program... So we're thinking of trying it once we're good to run for longer than 3minutes at a time.
Unsurprisingly to those who know me well, I have an ability to sleep directly after running. The first day I got home, crawled into bed and slept for another hour and a half. No really, I need 10 hours of sleep to be happy.
What I hope running will give me:
- Better cardiovascular health. Yep, this is all about getting the cardio to help keep my heart healthy. Yoga just isn't enough cardio, especially since I'm walking so much less.
- Stamina and strong legs. I really really want strong, muscular, kick ass legs that will be strong foundations for all my yoga asana.
- A relatively cheap way to be physically healthy. I don't need to buy anything new or pay any fees. I just need to be ok with waking up so early...
- Motivation to not quit. I'm really enjoying running with three people- it assures that neither Andrew nor I are easily persuaded to punk out when we know Steph is waiting on us...
- Happiness. Honestly, running does not make me happy. Admittedly, it makes me feel pretty terrible and a bit angry. I'm going to have to work extra hard to replace sleeping after running with yoga after running. Since yoga makes me feel Le Happy.
- (However, there is something to be said about running with two people who LOVE it- makes the running more bearable. Thank you Andrew and Steph!)
- Meditation and stress relief. This kinda goes along with the above "Happiness". Running makes me tense, out of breath and a bit grumpy. The added upper body tenseness, which coincidentally is where I carry a lot of my stress and anxiety, only adds to feelings of dis-ease. Again- will have to yoga it up to counterbalance this side effect.
Hears to a healthy heart!
I have wanted to start running, wish I had a running buddy but I only have one friend that lives close by. Good luck with it!
ReplyDeleteThe "Couch to 5K" program is a very good program. My sister, husband and I all used it to prepare for a Susan G. Komen Race-for-the-Cure in memory of my Mom. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteSounds like great motivation! :)
ReplyDeleteI've been throwing in a little running (okay, "walk-jogging") to my weekend walks. Two 2-minute intervals on my usual 2-mile route. Not much, at all, but it makes me feel like I'm getting in some good cardio and has actually helped me make some serious progress healing my bad knee. Go, Lisa!
ReplyDeleteAwesome---I hope you stick with it. And this post makes me laugh, cause the way you feel about yoga is exactly how I feel about running. I like my sweaty cardio and it's what gets me to meditate, releases my happy endorphins, and releases my stress. Yoga stresses me all out...and leaves me feeling like I need MORE of...something. ;) I LOVE that there are so many different options of physical activity that there is something for everyone...and keeping up with the yoga will be a good thing gal....decreases injury!! Great job and glad you've got some good running buddies! Also I know this is silly, but I read this in Born to Run and it's something that's kept with me....as much as you don't want to, try smiling when you run. If you act like it's enjoyable...sometimes it becomes so! ;) I do this sometimes when I'm struggling on a run or hike and it does help at times!
ReplyDeletehaha awesome! YES I should definitely try smiling- especially since it does make me so cranky lol.
Deleteand i agree- i think it's fantastic that there are so many options- Andrew gets extremely happy and hyper after his run which i think is fabulous (yoga definitely doesn't do that for him).