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Health & Fitness

Run, Forrest, Run!

Am I going to be a runner again or am I just a glutton for punishment?

Every time I say this out loud, I feel like I might throw up a little bit, but . . . I'm going to run a 5K.  Don't worry, it actually started out much worse.  A good friend of mine who is an avid runner (By avid, I mean that she has a goal of running 12 half-marathons next year.  Yeah.) had pretty much talked me into running a half-marathon. 

I had been thinking for a while about getting back into running.  I used to run when I was in high school and college, but I also played a lot of volleyball and softball and the lateral motion involved seems to have wrecked my knees for running.  So when my friend mentioned that the Disney's Princess Half-Marathon is taking place on my 40th birthday weekend next February, it seemed so very appropriate.  Like it would be a slap in the face to 40 if I could accomplish something like that.

Turns out, though, that there's a schedule conflict - one of my daughters has a gymnastics meet that weekend, too.  Also when we told my friend's husband about my half-marathon aspirations, he thought maybe I should try a 5K first.  I figured he might have a point with that logic.  Especially for the sake of my poor knees.

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So when the kids go back to school in about twelve days (Wait . . . what?  Where did the summer go???), I will have some time to myself, some of which I plan to spend training for the 5K in the Gasparilla Distance Classic on March 3, 2012.  Then I will see if my knees can endure.  There are running clubs and training programs, which I plan to utilize, which gradually prepare you for running long distances.  Thanks to a tip from another friend, I even downloaded a Couch-to-5K podcast to my iPod for free, so I can listen to it while I run!  You know, like, "Run for 30 seconds, walk for 30 seconds, run for 60 seconds, collapse on the nearest grassy area for 60 seconds."  Something like that.

In this era when health and fitness are the trends, and better trends there almost couldn't be, I feel compelled to up my game.  By committing to this in writing, I am hereby making myself accountable to anyone reading this in the hopes that, if you find me collapsed in a grassy area with my iPod, you will (after first making sure I don't need medical attention) encourage me to get up and finish what I started.  And if I have inspired anyone else to make running a goal, then you're welcome.  Now, go!  Run! 

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