Week 1, Day 7

I am becoming a runner in training...I have good days and bad days. I did 3 days of running this week and Saturday (yesterday, the 3rd day of running) was a bad day. I am currently in my home town...sitting in a bar to write this because it is the only place I knew of that had wireless internet. I know a bar isn't where you would expect to find a runner in training but here I am.

Back to the real deal though, Saturday was a bad day. I am not sure if it was because I spent so much time sitting in my car driving home Friday or because I ran at a different time or venue than normal. I normally run at night but on Saturday I got up early to run so I could spend some shopping time with Sam-ma, my grandma. I just couldn't focus which as everyone knows is at least half the battle in pushing yourself. Your body can do it, it is just convincing your brain that you are not going to pass out and die from a few more steps. I did just 30 minutes at running 1 minute and walking 1 minute to recover and I literally thought my lungs were going to collapse. I look forward to this day when it becomes easy...something that I want to do instead of being a chore.

Week 1, Day 2

This is the beginning...a new start. I have two books by John "The Penguin" Bingham because I am one of these people that likes to read the instruction manual before beginning anything. I am basically running for my life to become healthy and get in shape. Now I should say that I am the crappiest runner out there. I am like John...I am slow, a penguin not a rabbit, a gazelle, definitely not a cheetah and I probably don't look good running. I don't even enjoy running. It is not easy for me...I breathe hard and basically have to force myself to continue taking each step. I am pretty sure that no matter how fit I become, I will never be one of these people who rolls right out of bed bright and early in the morning just itching to get in 5 miles before the day begins. However, John says you are a runner if you run and so I guess I am a runner.

Right now I am currently just trying to build up to running two miles. I am going to be hitting the pavement 5 times a week to accomplish this goal. Today I did 30 minutes: 10 cycles of 1 minute running followed by 2 minutes of fast-paced walking to recover. Marathon training officially begins at the end of August. It is my goal to run the whole half-marathon. We will see if I make it.

Books:
- The Courage to Start by John Bingham
- Marathoning for Mortals by John Bingham