Running Day 1
That was.
... not what I expected.
Some background, I haven’t run for the sake of running since I stopped having to do cross country when I was 14 years old (and I already hated running them) and I haven’t done regular team sports based exercise since I was 16 and switched out netball for badminton. Again, I hated the running aspect and played defence because that was more fun. All of the ball pay and none of the dashing around the court. The last major walking challenge I had was a year ago when I walked up Mt John in Tekapo. That was simultaneously embarrassing and an eye opener. I wasn’t even running, merely strolling and I had to stop multiple times because I was so out of breath and I kept pretending to the people passing me by that I was merely admiring the view. I learnt a lot that walk and I could no longer avoid what God had been telling me - that whatever He has planned for me in the future, I’d better get my fitness sorted out. I don’t know why, whether it’s for some grand plan or simply for my own good, but I had to follow. I’ve been muddling my way through this last year trying to make my health a priority since.
Quite simply this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
At my heaviest I was at least 105kg and I’m currently hovering around 98kg a year later. Not bad, but I can do better! I think one of the reasons I’ve floundered isn’t because I hate exercise or healthy food - I actually enjoy most fruits and vegetables and love moving around a lot - but I haven’t made it a priority in terms of my time because I haven’t had a goal that I’ve been able to break down or known how to accomplish. So I have decided that next year, I want to run a 5k race. I’m really nervous because I don’t think I’ve ever run 5k in my life, but the key seems to be I need to build up my endurance and distance slowly and stick to the plan! I have downloaded an app designed to help couch potatoes like me reach their first race milestone and I just completed the first run today.
I moved non stop for 25 min and ran/walked for a total of 2.72km
I can’t believe I did that on the first day!!! That’s so much more than I had expected! My next run is Thursday and I’m hesitantly looking forward to it. Even though I only ran 3 minutes out of the 25 (the rest being walks/warm up /cool down), it felt good and I feel like I’ll be able to go further next time now I know that I CAN do it :D
It also started BUCKETING down as I was finishing which I DID NOT enjoy, but still, I did it and that’s what matters.