Friday, May 14, 2010

A Running Start

I learned to love running as a missionary. We were given some time in the morning for exercise and my preferred exercise quickly became running because it gave me a chance to think, reflect, and plan. Plus, it made for an excellent start to the day. When I got home, I had to stop running because of health and weight concerns. As mentioned in the previous post, I recently got clearance from a doctor to start working out and it has been fabulous!
First, I am so out of shape. The first couple of workouts were really tough. The second day, I was pretty sore. However, I have kept working out. Now I have a new goal for myself. I want to run a 5K by the end of the year. There are two that I am interested in running. One is in Idaho and the other in Utah and they are both in September. Hopefully I can be ready by then. My ultimate goal is to run a half-marathon, but that one is going to take more preparation so I am aiming for next May.
I have started "training". In fact, yesterday was supposed to be my first day of working out somewhere other than the basement. However, as I got into the workout clothes and set the pedometer, I heard thunder. One of my biggest fears in the world is thunder and lightning. I decided that if I heard another one, I would stay inside and workout in the basement. That is exactly what happened.
Needless to say, I decided to test my endurance and focus. I made it running a mile yesterday (maybe more, but I am not sure I set the pedometer right and that it was working correctly). It took longer than I wanted it too and I realized that I have a long ways to go. If I keep training and working hard, I should be able to do it.
It feels so good to be running again. I will try to keep this updated with my progress.