Runner By Day....

This running journey began back in August when it was suggested to me that I get into running for the health benefits and to add it as an enjoyable past time. At first I laughed. I played soccer for 10 years as a kid, I ran all the time, but never EVER enjoyed it. So to begin with I had a single purpose for running, and that was to get in better shape.

My runs began as attempts at interval training. I'd run really hard for two minutes and then walk for a minute, repeated over and over again. My "hard run" was just a notch above my jog, but I couldn't believe I was actually waking up early every morning to run (even weekends). So now I've established a morning routine where I rise nice and early before the baby even, and I try to be out on my runs for anywhere from 20-30 minutes. That time includes a little warm up and cool down walking, and I still walk once in a while just to catch my breath.

I'm excited about the time change because now I can wake up a half hour earlier and start trying to run for more like 30-45 minutes. My goal is to get to three miles in 36 minutes and then I think I'll be ready to run a 5K. After that, I've had a friend recommend that I sign up for the Austin American Statesman Capitol 10K in April. I'm still mulling over that idea because 6.2 miles is obviously much more than 3.1 in a 5K.

I plan to use this blog mostly as an outlet for myself, to let me check on my progress and see what I've been up to throughout this journey. I've been telling myself ever since August that "I'm a runner" and I plan on being a runner for as long as I can. I'll post weekly summaries of my runs and maybe some longer entries like this periodically as I'm inspired to do so.

Here's a breakdown of my runs I've been tracking so far, including a great run this morning.


DATE-10/29/2009 ROUTE-Meadows - 2 laps DISTANCE-1.6 TIME-25 SPEED-3.84 Comments-First day running with the dogs, they keep up quite a pace. That's what I keep in mind is that I need to keep my run fast enough that the dogs can't be walking, kinda sad but true. Another thing about running with the dogs, just holding on to the leashes, much less keeping them from peeing on everything in sight, adds a nice element of upper body workout too.

DATE-10/30/2009 ROUTE-St Helens DISTANCE-2 TIME-25.5 SPEED-4.7 Comments-Well, running with the dogs again, this time the girl dog tried to kill me twice. I'm hoping as we run these routes more often she'll know when to turn instead of running straight into me as I turn . . . On another note, today I basically recreated one of my first runs where I went down to the church and back. If I recall, back in those days it took me about 7-8 more minutes to cover the same distance. Today I also decided that it would be cool if I can get my conditioning to a point where I can run with my brother at Christmas and actually be able to speak while running.

DATE-10/31/2009 ROUTE-San Gabriel Park DISTANCE-2.42 TIME-33 SPEED-4.4 Comments-San Gabriel Park is pretty spooky on Halloween morning in the pitch black, but that didn't stop me. I was hoping to run a longer distance today to get a better understanding of what a 5K will be like. Maybe tomorrow I'll wake up super early with daylight savings time and try to go out for at least a 3 mile run.

DATE-11/1/2009 ROUTE-Churchill Farms DISTANCE-2.2 TIME-26 SPEED-5.07 Comments-I'm starting to think the dogs definitely help me keep a stronger pace. I felt pretty weak and tired this morning and wasn't expecting much, so needless to say I'm delighted with how this mornings run turned out.