Monday, September 1, 2008

I'm a runner now.

Can you just decide to be a runner? Well, I have. I have been working out five days a week pretty regularly since about May. I spend an hour at the gym in the morning before work three to four days during the week and then on Saturdays and/or Sundays depending on whether I need to get in my fifth day. My alarm is actually set for 4:50 a.m. every morning. Some days I get up. Some days I don't.

To immerse myself in this new athletic lifestyle, I started buying magazines like Shape and Women's Fitness. Then I bought Runner's World. I actually liked them. It felt like I was joining some cool, fit and healthy club. Never mind that I am the slowest member of that club and probably have a higher BMI than most of my fellow members.

My gym is actually closed this week for maintenance so I knew I was going to have to run outside this week. I also knew that 3.5 miles on the road is a whole lot different than 3.5 miles on a treadmill. Fortunately, my fit and healthy friend, Jennifer (who is running a half-marathon on 9/14), gave me some advice about running outside. So off I went to Fleet Feet, a whole store dedicated to running. Who knew?

So here's the part that gets a little weird. I bought a hydration belt, also known as a fuel belt. Seth calls it my dork belt. It's basically a belt to wear while you're running that has four 8 oz. water bottles attached to it. Sometimes, I get thirsty. :)

So Sunday, I put on my dork belt, er... hydration belt, and took off. I think I made it a little more than a mile, maybe a mile and a half. It's hot outside at 10 a.m. in August. But this morning, I got up earlier, my water bottles were colder, and I ran farther. About two miles. I think I'm going to take tomorrow off since I don't want to run four days in a row and try again Wednesday morning. I'll keep you posted. As you can see, I'm a runner now.

I just have to figure out how to balance this new lifestyle with the one where we get a babysitter so we can go out and drink a lot.

2 comments:

Dawn said...

OK. So I haven't had the chance to tell you this but listening to you and Jennifer talk about running inspired me a little too. I thought if they can run a half marathon and/or 5K, I should be able to run more than 2 minutes at a time. But I was running at a 3.5 or 4.0 incline. I heard you guys say you run at about a 1.0. So I put the incline down and ran my first mile. Then the second time I ran a little farther (1.26 miles). And you know what, I liked it and felt proud of myself. So I am going to keep going. My goal for now is 3 miles and I know it will take a while to get there but I thank you guys for inspiring me to become a runner - sorta - too. I don't know about a hydration belt though! :) Good luck with your running!

Jenn said...

I think it is so good that you went outside and ran. It is a lot different than running on the treadmill. Fleet Feet is what I call my 100.00 store because whenever I go in there I end up spending that much. I also have a hydration belt . When you go out and run fill one bottle with gatorade that way when you get tired the electrolytes will help replenish your body. I felt so dorky the first time I wore mine but during my run I got thirsty, took a drink, and did not feel dorky anymore. This weekend looks like a great weekend to get out so have a good run.