Hitting the Road
Spring has sprung in my little corner of the world, so as promised, I strapped on my running shoes and went for my first run.
It was ugly, dear Internet. Dirty running, that's what it was. A jiggling, flopping, sweating, lung burning, wheezing mess of a run.
My mom will often say to me:
"So and so saw you out walking the dog the other day."
or
"Mrs. Whatsis saw you walking with the girls, she says they're really getting big!"
I thought of these conversations as I ran today, and imagined a new one taking place between a friend of the family (FOF) and my mom.
FOF: Hi! I saw Bethany out with the girls on Sunday. Is she doing ok?
Mom: Yes, she's fine. Why?
FOF: Well, she was walking the girls, but it looked like she was having some sort of episode. Kind of like a seizure, only standing up.
Mom: Oh, well she's been...
FOF: Or maybe she's been taking Ritalin. I saw that on Desparate Housewives. It's all the rage with homemakers these days, taking their kids ADD medications..
Mom: Well, the girls don't have ADD, and anyway...
FOF: Interprative dance? Is she into that new age thing? It must be new, because I've never seen anything like what she was doing before!
Mom: She was jogging. She's training for a 5K race.
FOF: Jogging? That was jogging? Oh *hee*..Umm wow, well *snurf* That's great! *cough* Good for her!
It really was that bad. I decided to just get out there and do it, so after my warm up I picked a spot in the distance and whispered to myself, "I'm jogging to there." And I did. The I walked until I stopped gulping air and did it again. I'd done three cycles and looked at my watch, thinking I must be half way through my 30 minutes. Eight minutes passed. Damn.
Both of the girls were strapped into the bicycle trailer, the only manueverable stroller we have that will carry them both. They were like little sardines, only all wrapped up in warm, pink, fuzziness and at one point I checked on them and they were holding hands. My heart, which was already on fire, got a little warmer.
Sass knew we were out for a run and was eagerly anticipating the ride. In the middle of one jogging cycle she said,
"Mama? When are we going to run?"
Me: "wheeze...We are running!"
Sass: "Noo...you said we were going to run!"
Me: "gasp...We are running!"
Sass: "Faster Mommy! This isn't running!"
And of course, she was right. I think for the 5K I'll just strap her onto my back with her own little whip. "Faster Mommy, faster! You call this running?" I'll probably even beat M.
I came home and crossed paths with M. who was just leaving for work.
"I have a long way to go," I panted.
He nodded sagely. "You have to start slow," he said.
"But I've been working out almost every day since January!" I lamented.
"Look at it this way," he said, somehow knowing just the right thing to say, "You've really improved your aerobic fitness, your body just has to adjust to the phyiscal demands of running. Running is a whole new thing."
Running is a whole new thing, and new things require practice. That's what I'll keep telling myself, and in the meantime I'll look for a floppy hat and dark sunglasses to keep me in cognito until the runner in me gets up to speed!
It was ugly, dear Internet. Dirty running, that's what it was. A jiggling, flopping, sweating, lung burning, wheezing mess of a run.
My mom will often say to me:
"So and so saw you out walking the dog the other day."
or
"Mrs. Whatsis saw you walking with the girls, she says they're really getting big!"
I thought of these conversations as I ran today, and imagined a new one taking place between a friend of the family (FOF) and my mom.
FOF: Hi! I saw Bethany out with the girls on Sunday. Is she doing ok?
Mom: Yes, she's fine. Why?
FOF: Well, she was walking the girls, but it looked like she was having some sort of episode. Kind of like a seizure, only standing up.
Mom: Oh, well she's been...
FOF: Or maybe she's been taking Ritalin. I saw that on Desparate Housewives. It's all the rage with homemakers these days, taking their kids ADD medications..
Mom: Well, the girls don't have ADD, and anyway...
FOF: Interprative dance? Is she into that new age thing? It must be new, because I've never seen anything like what she was doing before!
Mom: She was jogging. She's training for a 5K race.
FOF: Jogging? That was jogging? Oh *hee*..Umm wow, well *snurf* That's great! *cough* Good for her!
It really was that bad. I decided to just get out there and do it, so after my warm up I picked a spot in the distance and whispered to myself, "I'm jogging to there." And I did. The I walked until I stopped gulping air and did it again. I'd done three cycles and looked at my watch, thinking I must be half way through my 30 minutes. Eight minutes passed. Damn.
Both of the girls were strapped into the bicycle trailer, the only manueverable stroller we have that will carry them both. They were like little sardines, only all wrapped up in warm, pink, fuzziness and at one point I checked on them and they were holding hands. My heart, which was already on fire, got a little warmer.
Sass knew we were out for a run and was eagerly anticipating the ride. In the middle of one jogging cycle she said,
"Mama? When are we going to run?"
Me: "wheeze...We are running!"
Sass: "Noo...you said we were going to run!"
Me: "gasp...We are running!"
Sass: "Faster Mommy! This isn't running!"
And of course, she was right. I think for the 5K I'll just strap her onto my back with her own little whip. "Faster Mommy, faster! You call this running?" I'll probably even beat M.
I came home and crossed paths with M. who was just leaving for work.
"I have a long way to go," I panted.
He nodded sagely. "You have to start slow," he said.
"But I've been working out almost every day since January!" I lamented.
"Look at it this way," he said, somehow knowing just the right thing to say, "You've really improved your aerobic fitness, your body just has to adjust to the phyiscal demands of running. Running is a whole new thing."
Running is a whole new thing, and new things require practice. That's what I'll keep telling myself, and in the meantime I'll look for a floppy hat and dark sunglasses to keep me in cognito until the runner in me gets up to speed!
posted by Her Grace at
12:36 PM
9 Comments:
Good for you Bethany! Keep running and who knows, one day you could be completing marathons! Your husband sounds lovely by the way, really supportive. Hopefully we'll both do well with the weightloss this week. Take care. x
OMG GIRL!! You cracked me up so much hahahah. But honestly you will do this ;D and your hubby is right, Running is a whole new thing that you have to ease into.
Maybe you should try the couch to 5k plan, I think if you google it should find it really easy. But it's a great plan and lots of people (regardless of their fitness) used it for tranistion into running.
So cool you're picking up new exercises tho! Keep it up in a few weeks you'll be floored at how much you've improved.
ooooh I can really connect with that post :) good for you though, getting out there and actually doing it. it took me months to build up to actually picking my feet up in to a run - think I need dark glasses and a hat too ;)
I'm thoroughly impressed. And don't worry about the random so-and-so's who might see you. They're driving their lazy asses. You're out there doing it.
Bethany,
Greetings from Canada! I was searching the blogs for "jogging" to see what other roadrunners were out there hitting the pavement and writing about it. I started jogging this January and it's been an interesting journey, a great one. I pray many blessings on you in your journey to get in shape and lose the weight. Maybe I'll check in with you again and feel free to check out my jog-blog if you have time.
-Nicole
oh gosh - I'm proud of you. I can't make it one block! - I never could - even when I was tiny. You obviously have done something to train your lungs. ;-)
congrats!
Good for you! By the way, I walk every single day and occasionally I will run. It still KILLS ME to run. Its just not the same. So, don't be discouraged. Your description of the running was hilarious by the way. Keep up the good work! Just baby steps and you will get there.
Hi I am new to your blog. I found it by scanning around other blogs. I read yours because like you I just set a goal to lose a lot of weight! ( hope you dont mind me reading your blog.) I understand how you feel, because today I just did 45 minutes of arobics ( was going to run, but it is raining here today) and felt like I was going to die. I wanted to stop so badly and say I give up.... but pushed myself until my lungs burned, and I had trouble breathing. You should be soooooo proud of your run! You did it! It may not have been easy, but you did it! Keep up the good work!
Mysti
Thanks everyone! Unfortunately it got cold here again, so the running has been put on hold. I need to get back to exercising indoors for a few days I guess!
Mysti- Good for you! Getting started on exercise is a really hard thing to do, but once you've done it for a few weeks, you'll start to miss it when you skip it!
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