Run Forest Run!

Criminy... I've been ignoring my blog for far too long, shame on me!!! But I have something new to chat about- I started running!

I keep telling myself that I want to be a runner. As if it's a destination, where one day I will arrive, and not just the process of strapping on the shoes and hitting the road. So I went to my local running shoe store last month and was fitted for a good pair of running shoes. I was almost embarrassed at the time to tell them during the fitting, "well, I'm not a runner yet, but I'm planning to start. Really, I swear." I was afraid they would burst into laughter at any moment; after all, these are seasoned pros that probably knock out half a dozen marathons a year and my paltry little 1-2 mile starting "runs" (with a little walking mixed in) are a joke by comparison. But they were awesome, and I came away with a pretty new pair of Saucony's that are keeping my feet happy as I ramp up the mileage. I even went back today for a snazzy new water bottle that is a little more conducive to holding for an hour than my current one.

I'm currently using the Runkeeper app (currently working on the sub-65 minute 10k program) as a training schedule. The program schedule runs 4 days per week, with long runs falling on Sundays. The mileage is fairly quickly ramping up, with speed drills starting to enter the mix this week. My time is averaging right about 11 min/mile right now, which could definitely stand some improvement. But that will come with continued endurance work and the speed drills. This past Sunday's run came in at 5.5 miles, but most exciting of all is that I think I managed my first glimpse into the infamous "runner's high", or at least some kind of feeling where I was able to get into the music and enjoy it, instead of counting steps or minutes until the workout was over with.

It's a slow relationship I'm building with running- but we may grow to love one another just yet.