It's Always Worth Running
Last Tuesday, I ran 5 miles without stopping, for the first time in my life.
I was irritated, and needed to burn off some steam, so I went to the gym and got on the treadmill. Normally I do intervals: I'll run for 5 minutes (5mph), then walk for 5 minutes (3mph), back and forth for an hour. If I'm feeling really ambitious I'll run for 10 and walk for 5, again for an hour.
But I'd been wondering how far I could go without stopping. Back when I was following the Couch to 5k plan (before a hectic life interrupted), I got up to the point of running for 20 minutes nonstop. I did it, but just about died. Still, I was feeling a fire this night, and determined, and decided to see how long I could go.
And I ran, 5 miles an hour, for the full hour.
I was flabbergasted. I was exhausted. So many times over that hour I wanted to stop, and rest, and sit. But I just made myself keep running because goddammit I'm going to do this.
And I did.
On Saturday, I ran it again. Just to make sure I could, and that such determination wasn't a fluke.
It wasn't.
Now my experiment grows twofold: First, I want to see about doing weight training before the run. After the run (both times) I've felt too exhausted to do anything but go home. Weight training will exhaust my arms and upper body, but hopefully I'll still be able to do a full run after.
Secondly, I aim to see if I can still keep up the determination while listening to an audiobook. Both times I had driving music playing in my ears (Mighty Mighty Bosstones). But because I've got shitty earbuds, my ears would be ringing afterward. An audiobook would be better for keeping my mind engaged, though worse for helping to impel me along.
Both of these questions occur to me because ... knowing that I can do this? I want to push myself to see how often I can do it. Every other day? At least. But I wonder: Could I run 5 miles EVERY day? Is that a thing runners do? I had expected my legs to be screaming murder on the days following, but they weren't.
I'll be heading to the gym in the next hour to try it again.
I've recently had an unexpected increase in free time. Hence the return to working out.
Relatedly, I've been wanting to get back to writing in here. And I have some things to write about.
Let's see how that goes...
I was irritated, and needed to burn off some steam, so I went to the gym and got on the treadmill. Normally I do intervals: I'll run for 5 minutes (5mph), then walk for 5 minutes (3mph), back and forth for an hour. If I'm feeling really ambitious I'll run for 10 and walk for 5, again for an hour.
But I'd been wondering how far I could go without stopping. Back when I was following the Couch to 5k plan (before a hectic life interrupted), I got up to the point of running for 20 minutes nonstop. I did it, but just about died. Still, I was feeling a fire this night, and determined, and decided to see how long I could go.
And I ran, 5 miles an hour, for the full hour.
I was flabbergasted. I was exhausted. So many times over that hour I wanted to stop, and rest, and sit. But I just made myself keep running because goddammit I'm going to do this.
And I did.
On Saturday, I ran it again. Just to make sure I could, and that such determination wasn't a fluke.
It wasn't.
Now my experiment grows twofold: First, I want to see about doing weight training before the run. After the run (both times) I've felt too exhausted to do anything but go home. Weight training will exhaust my arms and upper body, but hopefully I'll still be able to do a full run after.
Secondly, I aim to see if I can still keep up the determination while listening to an audiobook. Both times I had driving music playing in my ears (Mighty Mighty Bosstones). But because I've got shitty earbuds, my ears would be ringing afterward. An audiobook would be better for keeping my mind engaged, though worse for helping to impel me along.
Both of these questions occur to me because ... knowing that I can do this? I want to push myself to see how often I can do it. Every other day? At least. But I wonder: Could I run 5 miles EVERY day? Is that a thing runners do? I had expected my legs to be screaming murder on the days following, but they weren't.
I'll be heading to the gym in the next hour to try it again.
I've recently had an unexpected increase in free time. Hence the return to working out.
Relatedly, I've been wanting to get back to writing in here. And I have some things to write about.
Let's see how that goes...