All I Really Want to Do is Run

I was never a runner.  I hated running.  A few years ago I joined The Gym and went there regularly to walk (fast mind you and with an incline) on the treadmill.  I actually enjoyed doing this.  I lost some weight and I felt better.  And because I was walking instead of running, I could read at the same time which made the whole process much easier to manage.

BUT, after several years of doing this and thinking I was in pretty good shape, I was challenged one day by a Grade 8 girl to try the beep test while I was subbing at PRSS.

The beep test is where you start running the width of the gym after a beep and you have to make it to the other side before there is another beep.  You keep running back and forth until you fail to reach the other side before the beep.  Stamina is obviously involved, but the real challenge occurs when the beeps get closer together meaning you have to speed up while you are tiring out.  I did lousy!  I reached 4.9 which is a fail for Grade 8 students.  I figured I had to be able to pass Grade 8 PE so I started a simple running program at The Gym as well as running with the Grade 8 class on their weekly outdoor runs.  That was last April and by the final exam for the Grade 8's, I scored 6.0 on the beep test which - forget about Grade 8's - was above average for someone my age.

At that point I was running for most of their outdoor runs which was about 4K.  I still needed a break in the middle and I still walked some of the hills but I found that I was walking less each time.  I decided on a goal of running 5K at the Cannery Run and I spent much of the summer running the track and along the waterfront and along the highway.  At the Cannery Run, I completed the 5K in 32 minutes.

My next goal was to run 10K at Glory Days and I found a simple eight week program for people who had run 5K and wanted to increase their distance.  I was doing fine until I detached my retina. (Randomly, not caused by running!) I was told that I couldn't run or lift anything heavier than a grocery bag for at least eight weeks.  The end of the eight weeks almost coincided with the start of the Learn to Run program.  I spent the first two weeks walking.  But I just saw the specialist and he has told me I can run again.

When I saw the advertisement for the Learn to Run, I had to join because it offered three things.

1. to regain whatever stamina I had lost.  I want to get back to at least 5K and hopefully 10K.
2. to get outside more often.  Running on a treadmill is mind-numbingly boring.
3. working with other people to achieve my goal.  When I was running with the Grade 8's I found it easier and more enjoyable to push myself while running alone gave me opportunities to give up.

I am looking forward to this Tuesday when I can run with the group.