Running is amazing.
My love affair with running has had lots of ups and down. My first experience with running was in 2008 when I decided to start the C25K program after I found out my 50 year old Dad had started jogging in the morning before work. I thought if he can do it, why can't I? I never had any interest in running before that. Long walks - sure? Short random bursts of running once in a while - maybe? But actual dedicated, focused running - NO THANKS! I was a big girl and most of my workouts were indoors where people could not see me being a hot sweaty mess. But I decided to change all that and just TRY it. Why not?
The first attempt at C25K went well. It was a struggle at first, I was a lot lighter than I am now and I made it all the way through to the end of the program. After I was done though, I kinda lost interest because I didn't have a weekly goal any more.
The next spring I decided to start running again. I didn't start from the beginning again, since I had been doing other workouts through the fall and winter. So I began by running 2 miles and worked my way up. It was probably my best year for running. One weekend my Dad came down and we went for a morning run and near the end we (for some stupid reason) decided to sprint toward the end of our trail. A couple days later, I was in a lot of pain. I found out I had over-extended my knee but hadn't done any significant damage. I had to wear a cheap knee sleeve type thing for a week until my knee felt better. I took some time off from working out and gave up running for that summer.
Last summer we moved to a new apartment and there was a beautiful trail behind our building. I was so excited to get running again! But now I was 25 pounds heavier! I decided to start the C25K program from the beginning again. It was a lot harder to do with the extra weight but I pushed through. I was on the 8th week and went for a run in the rain. Somehow, during the run I injured my upper thigh/butt muscle. It was really painful that day and I didn't go to a hospital (which I should have!). For weeks my muscle really hurt and it hindered my weight loss because I couldn't work out. I was down 14 pounds at this point and I just gave up.
So where am I at now? Well, now I'm up at my highest weight in a long time. Even though I wanted to get back to losing weight, I decided I wouldn't try running this spring. I didn't want to get injured again! Someone had told me that she couldn't understand why so many people run when it's so hard on the body. I decided I would just walk instead. I walked a lot and listened to some good podcasts. (I really recommend Fat 2 Fit) But I missed running! I missed the feeling of running. I got jealous when I saw the fit people speeding past me. So...I decided to start running again! The truth is, when I'm running I'm really happy! I don't focus on weight loss, I just focus on my goals. I can see my progress and I feel great knowing that I can run a certain distance. It's definitely a challenge with this added weight, but I'm taking it really slow.
The first attempt at C25K went well. It was a struggle at first, I was a lot lighter than I am now and I made it all the way through to the end of the program. After I was done though, I kinda lost interest because I didn't have a weekly goal any more.
The next spring I decided to start running again. I didn't start from the beginning again, since I had been doing other workouts through the fall and winter. So I began by running 2 miles and worked my way up. It was probably my best year for running. One weekend my Dad came down and we went for a morning run and near the end we (for some stupid reason) decided to sprint toward the end of our trail. A couple days later, I was in a lot of pain. I found out I had over-extended my knee but hadn't done any significant damage. I had to wear a cheap knee sleeve type thing for a week until my knee felt better. I took some time off from working out and gave up running for that summer.
Last summer we moved to a new apartment and there was a beautiful trail behind our building. I was so excited to get running again! But now I was 25 pounds heavier! I decided to start the C25K program from the beginning again. It was a lot harder to do with the extra weight but I pushed through. I was on the 8th week and went for a run in the rain. Somehow, during the run I injured my upper thigh/butt muscle. It was really painful that day and I didn't go to a hospital (which I should have!). For weeks my muscle really hurt and it hindered my weight loss because I couldn't work out. I was down 14 pounds at this point and I just gave up.
So where am I at now? Well, now I'm up at my highest weight in a long time. Even though I wanted to get back to losing weight, I decided I wouldn't try running this spring. I didn't want to get injured again! Someone had told me that she couldn't understand why so many people run when it's so hard on the body. I decided I would just walk instead. I walked a lot and listened to some good podcasts. (I really recommend Fat 2 Fit) But I missed running! I missed the feeling of running. I got jealous when I saw the fit people speeding past me. So...I decided to start running again! The truth is, when I'm running I'm really happy! I don't focus on weight loss, I just focus on my goals. I can see my progress and I feel great knowing that I can run a certain distance. It's definitely a challenge with this added weight, but I'm taking it really slow.
I'm hoping there will be no injuries this time around. I want to really focus on going slow, stretches and stopping if I feel any pain. What can I say, I LOVE RUNNING.
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