Caboose......

I have stated 100 times in this blog that I am not a "runner", don't want to be a good runner and acutally just really suck at running. I compare myself to a caboose.  Heavy, slow and always pulling up the rear in a race.  Even when I was much younger and athletic, I was a bad runner.  My soccer coach in high school gave me the nickname Prancer because he said I ran like a deer, bouncing on my toes down the field.  He tried to "teach" me how to run correctly.  He said I would waste more energy bouncing up and down than any sort of rhythmic motion forward.  There was no hope so my nickname was Prancer and running was not my talent.

Even stranger about my lack of ability to run is that my father and my brother were both excellent runners.  Long distant runners in high school and college.  Both of them can just go out and run whenever they want to and it doesn't matter how long it has been since they last ran.  It is a special gene I didn't inherit.  Since I didn't inherit their skinny legs, I also didn't inherit their ability to run like the wind. 

Now that I am on this mission to live healthier, I am running.  But stand firm that I am not trying to be a runner.  I think I keep saying that just in case I continue to suck at running.  But I have really begun to LOVE the fact that I am healthy enough to run if  I want to.  It is motivating and rewarding.  The first few 5k races I entered were completed by walking.  Then I eased into a little light jog here and there.  Now, I am determined to complete a 5k by running the entire time.  I am so competitive with myself.  So even though I keep saying I am NOT a runner......I am accidently becoming one. It is easy and feels good no matter how much I am able to run.  I remind myself constantly that I should be so thankful to be blessed with the ability to use my leg and I need to take care of them. 

This week I began running in my neighborhood.  My neighborhood is perfect for running.  Mostly flat with a few mild hills.  I love it because I am sitting A LOT at home right now wrapping up the last moments of my dissertation for my PhD.  I haven't been to Boot Camp in 2 weeks.  I put myself on restriction in the afternoons after work so I can just focus on finishing school.  But I am trying to get a run in at home when I can. I like that I can just jump up, go run for a bit then come back and start writing again without missing too much time.  So I go for my first run the other nite in the hood and like Forrest Gump.....I just ran and ran and ran.  I didn't stop running.  I ran one mile without stopping.  This was HUGE progress and not even sure why it just happened that nite but it did.  I ran the mile in a little about 14 and a  half minutes.  Did it again the next day.  Pretty cool considering I haven't been able to run for more than a minute or two without stopping.  I am now running a whole mile without feeling like I am going to die.  Not even winded.  Heartrate is up, sweating but controlled.  Fabulous!

I also have a cool app on my phone called "Runtastic" which logs in my run using GPS.  I turn it on before I start to run.  It tells me every time I reach a mile.  When I am finished it will tell me how far I ran, how long it took me to run, and my pace.  It will do a lot of other cool stuff like heartrate etc but I don't use that.  Then it will post a pic of the map of the course I ran and info about my run  on my Facebook.  It stores the info so I can see progress etc.  Free app...very cool.

I am still a caboose.  I run slow and heavy like my legs are weights pulling me down.  I guess I'll work on technique before I try out for the Olympics but until then....I can run like the wind without getting winded!