An absolute beginner.

In last Friday’s post I told you all that I had changed my exercise routine around and added something new. Oh my, how exciting, I can almost hear you think but, it’s not that exciting. At least, not to most of you. For me however it’s quite a challenge and a new experience, because it’s actually something I cannot do. I know, because I’ve tried it in the past. So what am I doing? RUNNING!(three times a week.)

I actually started to RUN and I am in my third week now! Okay, I’ll admit it, at first the whole running thing looked more like jogging, but according to all the sites I’ve consulted (Libras love a bit of research) that’s how most of the runners start out. They say the first step (and stepping outside in your running gear)

(a picture of my actual first step)

is the hardest, but I’ve discovered that the ones that follow that initial step aren’t a walk in the park either.

Of course I did make all the beginners mistakes: started out too fast - so I was exhausted after just a few minutes, used my old shoes which I had been using for walking, had the wrong socks, used the wrong schedule and so on and so on. So, you can most likely imagine that first week was a real hell, but then I decided to spend some money on good equipment. *sigh*

I always thought that running was one of the less expensive sports, but boy was I wrong. A pair of decent running shoes will set you back at least a 110 euros. Luckily I was able to find a runners shop with a sale on; all last year’s models with a 50% off. Hooray! Who cares if they aren’t fashionable (are running shoes ever?)! I also invested in Coolmax socks, which work wonders for my feet, and then al that was left was a different schedule.

At first I was using a podcast, according to the description very suitable for beginners. I’m not sure what kind of beginners they were thinking about, because I just couldn’t complete the whole first run. After my opening run I felt really depressed and I thought to myself ‘Man, if I can’t even complete this one I am never going to succeed’. The rest of the day I spend sulking, not really sure what to do next, but then it hit me, there just had to be some other schedule that I could follow. So, I went online and there it was, the “from couch to 5K” schedule :) a programme in which you alternate running and walking.

The first week: I ran 10 and walked 40 minutes
The second week: I ran 18 and walked 52 minutes
And this week: I already ran 14 and walked 35 minutes and there is still one more run to complete this week, so I think I am seeing some progress here. Huzzah! For now, I am sticking with this schedule and, who knows, maybe later I'll change back again to the Start to Run podcasts. I am one happy chica (oh my…..lady, I mean) right now. And you know the weirdest thing happened the other day…..: I discovered that I am actually enjoying this whole running, or should I say starting to run, experience :)
Who would have thought? As a kid I never liked sports (I always managed to get out of PE) but I’ve been working out these last couple of years and now I am even starting to enjoy running. Age comes with strange new habits ;)

Oh and I did discover an interesting site Gmap Pedometer: a little hack that uses Google's mapping application to help record distances travelled during a running or walking workout (but you probably already know about that).