Running: From Thinking About It To Actually Doing It!

Lately, I've been doing a lot of thinking about running.

My background in running involved a very short stint as a long-distance runner on the track team. I dropped out due to my hatred of long-distance running. I wanted to run the 100- 200- and 400-meter dashes. But alas, I didn't make the cut.

I kept thinking about how much running all the contestants on The Biggest Loser do. Though they work out with weights and do body-weight exercises - for the most part, they do a lot of running. In fact, the moment their fat-butts hit the ground of The Biggest Loser campus, they are running. Seeing them run always inspires me because it takes away all of my excuses.

And I've been thinking about my dad, who is a runner. He's been running for about 15 years - and guess what? Ever since he started running, he's never had a weight problem. Amazing, huh? Come to think of it... how many overweight runners do you know? I sure don't know of any. If they are overweight, they won't be for long!

Speaking of which - a coworker of mine quit the company last year and he was obese at the time. He was recently hired back on with the company, looking slim and trim. In fact, everyone did double-takes wondering if it was the same guy! I asked him what he did to lose the weight and guess what he said? He started running! He said he runs 3 days per week. I don't remember the number of miles he said he runs each week, but I do remember how good he looked. After seeing him and being inspired by him, I kept thinking about starting a running program of my own.

Unfortunately, even though my 'want to' was there, my plantar fasciitis was holding me back. While at the Ideal Feet store, last Monday, the foot specialist told me that with their arch supports, I could start running whenever I wanted to. I was shocked (but thrilled) to hear that because I thought I'd have to wait until my plantar fascitiis went away.

Excitedly, I decided to get started. I called my dad this morning (he's currently at the Kerrville Folk Festival chillin' out with fellow singer/songwriters) to get his advice about how to start a running program.

Dad gave me lots of good pointers such as:

• Run at the McGee Center. They have a padded track, which he said would help my feet. Also, since it's an indoor facility, weather can never be used as an excuse not to run.
  
  
• Do some basic stretching before starting.
  
  
• Run 3 days per week (he said that's all he's ever done). He said if I want to, I can do 30-minute walks on my 'off' days.
  
  
• Start out slow and easy. Walk a little, jog a little, until you reach 30 minutes. He told me to run at a slow and relaxed pace... easy does it. He said the last thing you want to do is get injured because then your running program is over before it has started. Keep track of how long/far you run so you can measure your progress from day-to-day. Eventually, you'll be running the entire 30 minutes.
  

After I hung up with Dad, I googled "beginner running programs" to see if there were other tips that would help me get started and I landed on Cool Running's site. I clicked on their Couch-to-5K Running Plan and got a good idea of how many minutes I should try to jog/walk. Their plan recommends starting out by first doing a 5-minute warm-up walk, then alternate 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking, until you reach 20 minutes total.

So, after I got home from work, I changed my clothes and the whole family headed out to the McGee Center. My daughter, Rachael, and I ran/walked together while my husband-Paul, my son-Dylan, and toddler-Brady, played basketball.

The funny part is that I got confused and thought I was supposed to alternate 60 seconds of walking with 90 seconds of jogging. Anyway, turns out it didn't matter because neither of us could run for 60 seconds - much less 90 seconds! Hehehehe! The most we could do was 45 seconds of jogging at a time. I know... pretty lame. But before you know it, I'll be saying, "I can run for 30 minutes without stopping!"

I can't tell you how good it felt to be able to walk - much less run - without heel pain. These Ideal Feet arch supports are great!

While googling, I found out that today was also the first annual National Running Day. Pretty cool, huh?

Thanks for reading!






Related Posts:

3 Things I Learned About Heel Pain

Biggest Loser Final 4 (Running a Marathon)

Cathy Skell Is Not The Biggest Loser (Running a Half-Marathon)

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