I’ve tried running before. Actually, the last time I “seriously worked out” on a regular basis was in college when I had access to a rec building and treadmills. My problem with keeping up a workout regimen is simply the routine of it: if I miss one day, then it’s possible I miss two, and after that, I’m likely not coming back to it.
Well, for a variety of reasons, I decided to give it another try, this time with something of a clear goal, and also with the full knowledge that even if I’m able to keep it up, once the baby comes around at the end of September, that schedule will be disrupted and I’ll probably stop. The goal, in my mind, is to be capable of running a 5K (3.1 mi) non-stop. I figure this shouldn’t be too difficult with the appropriate training, but is something that, today, I don’t think I could reasonably do.
Two Mondays ago, I started jogging on a road near here that’s popular among joggers, and connects up with an asphalt trail that goes for quite awhile. To get started, I decided I would jog for 20 min and get as far as I could, then hopefully, do the same thing again on each following week day. That first day, I made it two miles (though, the last quarter mile was pretty painful…). But really, having not seriously jogged in years, I felt that 2 miles was pretty good. In the end, it’s the “20 min non-stop” part that’s most important for me. I’ll push that longer and longer in the upcoming weeks.
Last week, I ended up jogging three days (rained out one day, then had some set up for Kristen’s wedding, so I got my exercise later in the morning). This week, I jogged all five days and averaged a little over 2 miles each day. By the time I hit Thursday/Friday, I was definitely more tired than I’d been the earlier days, but I was also less sore after running. Progress!
I’m tracking everything using an app called RunKeeper. It takes advantage of my phone’s GPS to track how far I’ve gone and give me some idea of pace. I’m still trying to work out a consistent pace, rather than waffling between 10:30/mi and 9:30/mi. It’s nice having the app “break through” the music I’m listening to and let me know that it’s been 5, 10, 15 or 20 min, how far I’ve gone, and what my average pace is.
We’ll see how long I can keep it up. Again, I’m optimistic I can keep this up to some degree for the next month or so. I’ll probably end up dropping to three times a week rather than five in awhile, but I wanted to get a good start with the routine of getting up at 6:00 am, rather than falling back asleep.
Heck, as long as Brooke keeps making me a smoothie each morning, I probably have enough incentive to keep it up. 🙂