In the beginning...

Being 36 years old and having lived a life of devout non-altheticism up to this point, I think I am as surprised as anyone that I have suddenly gotten a bug to run. My first foray into any kind of exercise at all was joining Curves about a year ago - I stuck with it for 6 months but then kind of crapped out. Since I've begun running (and at this point I use the word "running" loosely - more on that later) I decided it would be worthwhile to rejoin Curves as it is aerobic and strength training and will surely be a compliment to the running.
This past December I was walking on a treadmill and thought I would try a slow jog - to my amazement I did not tangle up my feet and get flung off, and I was able to tolerate almost a mile! I was up to 2 miles pretty quickly and was pretty excited - planning on running a 5K in February and thinking I was the wind --- until I tried to run outside! I had no idea just how much that treadmill motor helped me along because I didn't last a 1/2 mile running down my road. By the first (tiny) incline I was ready to fall over in the ditch. This was discouraging enough that I didn't run the 5K, and in fact didn't run again till recently.

Where I'm at...

Living in Central New York State, the weather is just starting to get decent (the last of my yard snow melted last weekend) and I just felt drawn to trying again. I have found some nice, groomed dirt and gravel trails that run along side the Erie Canal and have been slowly building up my time doing actual jogging.
So I will begin here, today, and take it from there. I have my eye on a few 5K's this summer and the Boilermaker 15K next summer (some people think I could do the 15K this summer if I worked at it but I do not want to screw this up). Onward....

Sunday April 25

It was pretty cool today (low 50's) and threatening rain so I didn't know if I'd be able to get out before the downpour (and forecasts of thunder & lightening) began. I layered up (a little too much it turned out - could've done without the fleece) and drove to the trail. This day begins my week of 4 minutes jogging/1 minute walking x 6 repititions. I walked briskly for about 5 minutes then did some stretches and began - I was tolerating 4 minutes running (slowly, I'll admit) and 1 minute was sufficient rest time, which I wasn't sure it would be as I have been doing about 50:50 prior to this. At the 4th rep I had to walk 2 minutes as I was pretty out of breath but that really helped because I felt much stronger for the last 2 reps. All in all, I felt like I did well with it and came away feeling invigorated, not tired. The air was cool and the breeze strong - which felt good. The rain held off for the most part - just some sprinkles here and there. The trail is not well marked for mileage but I think I went a little over 4 miles in about 50 minutes - though I am not really worried about distance at this point. I will be repeating this on Tuesday and Thursday with Curves workouts on Monday-Wednesday-Friday, then rest on Saturday. I feel good about what I did today. I have been doing so much walking vs. running that it felt like real progress today to cut back on the walking time. Also, my hips, which have always been a stiff, creaky part of my body, are not very sore at all this evening as I expected they would be *hooray!* Tuesday's supposed to be another cool, rainy day but I am totally looking forward to my next run.