Tags
Britney Spears, competitive, confessional, jogging, Mile, Party Like a Rockstar, Perspiration, Pretty Girl Rock, Prince, runners, running
I'll run to Britney Spears' whole catalog for abs like this...seriously. Image via Wikipedia
The Reincarnation of a Runner
As many of you who follow me on twitter or follow my personal blog know, I finally figured out what was wrong with my running shoes and decided to get back out there and try to pick up running again. What you may not know is that, except for several attempts in the interim, I haven’t actually ran since maybe freshman year of college. I’ve never been a distance runner. In the past five years, my personal best has been 45 minutes on the treadmill at a pace of 3.8 miles/hour, which is slightly more than 2.65 miles, which I did nearly everyday in late 2006/early 2007. I’ve been jogging/walking three times, once for two miles and twice for three miles, including today. After logging five miles last week and three so far this week, these are my confessions about running:
- I am not eighteen anymore. I don’t mean this in a literal sense. It’s just that I noticed myself beating myself up over the numbers on the stopwatch, how long I could sustain a jogging pace, how bad my form had become. The thing is, at eighteen, like many of the lithe young girls that were out today, I ran every day. I had built up endurance. I was thirty pounds lighter, too. I never timed myself or tried to judge my distance. I didn’t have great form then, either, until a track coach saw me and gave me some pointers. It will come back to me the more I go, the more I actually learn about form, and the more weight I get off my poor joints.
- Skinny little runners drive me crazy. They just do. Everything about them, from their happily bouncing ponytail to the way they glow rather than sweat, makes me mad. I hate how they seem to not even be trying. I hate how they have perfect form. I hate how they pass me three and four times during the course of one of my circuits around the mile course. They make me feel out of shape and old, which, I suppose, compared to them I am. Doesn’t mean they have to make me feel that way.
- I have a love/hate relationship with feeling the fat on my waist flop as I jog. One the one hand, I know its moving and sweating is a good thing; I’m working it off. On the other hand, it feels gross and heavy and it makes me feel ashamed of my fat self. There shouldn’t be any fat there in the first place.
- I get easily frustrated with a lack of progress. I expect that each run I have will be better than the last, that I will be able to jog that much longer or go that much further. If I can only do exactly what I did the time before, I get frustrated. I don’t want to hear that I’m just starting out; I should only be getting better. (Obviously, I’m uber competitve and hard on myself)
- I only jog on the parts of the trail with few people and plenty of shading trees. I don’t want people watching all the jiggling, poor form, hard breathing, and possible limping. I wait until I’ve cleared the soccer fields to jog, then wait until I’ve cleared the tennis courts (at least the part they can see me from) before I start running. I have gotten to where I can jog past the back part of one soccer field, however.
- I think sweat is disgusting. It’s one of the myriad complaints I have about cardio of any kind. Luckily, I’m not much of a face sweat-er, or I would probably refuse to ever go running again, needing to lose weight and find a fit passion or not.
- I didn’t hydrate enough/ properly fuel before my run today, result= “bad” run. So apparently a chicken quesadilla (chicken, cheese and tortilla), while having complex carbs and protein, wasn’t sufficient. Neither was a can of soda. I know, I know! You aren’t telling me anything my body didn’t tell me loved and clear several times today.
- When I run, I sometimes listen to music I’d never otherwise listen to. Chief among these running guilty pleasures is a plethora of Britney Spears tracks, the song Party Like a Rock Star, Turn My Swag on (Remix), and Pretty Girl Rock (Don’t judge me). I listen to “good” music, too, like Prince and Beyoncé/Destiny’s Child; let’s not get crazy, now.
There, now, I feel better, don’t you?
What are your running/exercising dirty secrets? Any funny beginner stories? When did you realize you weren’t eighteen anymore?
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- What Makes You Sweat? (thingsishouldkeeptomyself.wordpress.com)
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- Conquering the Long Run (checkmypulse.wordpress.com)
- Baby, We Were Born to Run (icametorun.com)
- I Am a Runner (But I Sometimes Take Walk Breaks) (laurajeanette.wordpress.com)
- A Bad Run (arunnerslife.wordpress.com)
Try the Couch to 5k program. It will get you back to running slowly and steadily, with less risk of burnout. I started it in September, and now I am training for a 1/2 marathon in April.
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Wow, that’s awesome! I don’t know if I’d ever want to run that long (unless I’m running from something, LOL), but I have nothing but respect for anyone who can complete one. Do I have to complete one to get the cool little 13.1 sticker I see on people’s cars? I wouldn’t buy one (that would be cheating ;-)), but I was wondering…
If I actually do decide to run something (other than myself into the ground), I will give couch to 5k a try. I know several people who’ve done it and really recommend it.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting!
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Keep going! The beginning is always the hardest which is where most people throw in the towel. Even the young 18 yrs old started somewhere lol prb not as difficult for them at a young age but I swear it’s worth it if you keep at it. And, to be honest, just yoga won’t work the fat off your waist line which is prb a health concern anyways but I’m sure you know that already. T finished a 5K recently. She complained non-stop, grew discouraged at the “bad” run days, and almost didn’t show up for the race because it wasn’t an out-and-back course. But, she finished it 🙂
I hate extra sweaty people who run by and flick me with their sweat. I hate running during the extra long winter months….it’s a struggle even now because it’s been cold for about 6 months now 😦 I hate those uber serious athletes who frown at you eating a burger while they eat bird food from a packet. I hate my seriously small ears and my huge earbuds which never seem to stay put. Secret #1: I run only in fitted cute athletic gear. I know it sounds stupid but it makes me look & feel good. Nothing expensive but def highlighting my best “assets”. I’m prb the most coordinated runner in my ‘hood so ppl don’t notice I’m gasping for air around mile 9. Secret #2, during warmer weather, I love running by groups of sexy shirtless guys playing football, volleyball, etc. Suddenly, I get a second wind 🙂
P.S. Wanna see some real abs? Put Janet’s picture up in place of Britney’s.
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LOL…I used Britney because she made the list of my guilty pleasure running music–I don’t feel guilty about Janet Jackson music on my iPod–I always listen to Feedback on jogging days. The post thing pulled up this picture b/c I used Britney Spears’ name.
I didn’t know T did a 5K! That’s great. How did she train?
I do cardio & not just yoga, but it’s usually something like an elliptical, a class (I go to once and can’t seem to finish any other time), or the Insanity DVDs (of which I’m lucky to get through a program). Jogging is the newest thing I’m trying, LOL (for the second time). I know I need cardio to burn fat–I just don’t like it. I hate when my heart beats fast, I hate sweat, and I hate being short of breath courtesy of EIA and being out of shape.
I agree with not liking the sweat-flickers. That’s so gross! Take a towel or wear those sweat bands/wrist bands to wipe it up. You should move to Florida. It doesn’t get too cold here, but I don’t know if you like the HOT weather in the summer either.
Your secrets are hilarious. I’m not to the point of doing either without embarrassing myself, but I must admit, I love wearing the shorts and getting the “look back” as I go by from all the guys. 😉
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