Our running story: How we went from not running to 10k in 4 months
So if you have seen my social media posts lately, you know we've started running. I started last May, a little here and there with my daughter who is 16. She started running at the YMCA on the treadmill. Then she registered for a 5k and did that virtually, so I ran a little with her then. We took a huge break, and then went back to it in November- just 4 months ago! Now we are hooked and it's a total shock to us. So, I'm going to try to tell the story in case it's helpful for others who may want to consider running.
Chapter 1. Not running.
This is the story of the first 42 years of my life. Not Running. I have litterally never ran before last year. I remember in 3rd or 4th grade PE we had "lap day". You had to run in a circle around the play ground and for each lap you got a wooden popsicle stick to hold. The coach would tell us how many laps you were supposed to go, and then you had to hand in your sticks at the end of class. This was, I think, for proof of the torture you endured. I think it wasn't a long way- maybe 5 or 6 laps total. If we were bad it was probably more than that. Anyway, I remember dreading lap day. I'm not even sure if I ever ran. I may have skipped or walked or twirled. If I did run it was for very brief spurts just to pass up people. Anyway, the point of this part of the story is just to tell you that running has never been my thing. I never wanted to run.
Chapter 2. Trying to run
Ok, so let's fast forward to a brief time in about 2012 . This is when I tried to do sprints with my daughter. It was to get her out of the house and see if maybe she had dodged the genetic non-lottery of athletic endurance and motivation. Turns out she did. Eventually we took her to a fun run. She got 3rd place without trying. She was good. Later we find out she's really good but more on that soon. After taking her out for less than 2 weeks, maybe on like the 4th or 5th run, I start to get pains in both knees. It kind of felt like knives, so it sent several signals all at the same time. One, I was not meant to run... and so it felt like God was letting me know it's ok to acknowledge this. Two, it reminded me that I hurt one of my knees, or maybe both of them, in drill team in high school. All those bouncing high kicks I guess. None of this part of the story hurt my feelings. I was not sad to not be able to run. My daughter was a good runner, so I started doing the elliptical (which is a whole another kind of torture). The point of this part of the story is that I tried to run and at this point, when I was about 32...I could not (so I thought).
Chapter 3. The shoes
As I have gotten older, I realize that good shoes are important for my knees and feet. I started doing Zumba, and as long as I had on good shoes my knees didn't hurt. So that made me wonder. Should I try to run again? When my daughter wanted to do a 5k fun run last May, I was like, sure, that's great for you. Let's do this. I was in the cheering section. But....I also trained next to her on the treadmill. I got bored just walking. So I sped up. There was still that little girl inside that wanted to know if I could run fast. The competitive part of me. The 5k got rained out and my daughter had to race virtually. I was trying to encourage her, so I told her I would run the 3.1 miles with her. We did this, and her time won her first place in her age group. My time was about 45 minutes which would have won me no place (maybe last?!) in any age group. But I did it for her. And afterwards I noticed that my knees never hurt. I was shocked. Maybe it was the vitamins? Or the veggies and fruit? And then I remembered. It's the shoes! I had started wearing more expensive work out shoes (Asics gels). I learned that as far as running without pain it's all about the shoes. Get the cheap shoes and your feet and knees will hurt. Get the good shoes and unnecessary pain can be a thing of the past.
Chapter 4. The client
So after the first 5k run with my daughter, I just kept working out in other ways. Dog walks, Zumba, yoga, combat type kick-boxing. It was fun. I was happy. There was NO need to change. However, sometimes God has other plans. I had a client that was eating healthy and feeling great. She said her energy was much better, so I was like "so what do you think you want to do?". She says... "I think I want to run a 5k!". I said "that's great! I'll run it with you!!".
Crickets. "Really?" she says. "That would be great!!".
And then after the call I realized what I had said and that I would, in fact, need to actually run this race with her. I needed to run 3.1 miles, on pavement.... for the first time in my life. People would be watching. It would require training. When I was honest with myself I had a tinge of regret, but decided to put it aside. I decided that I should try running again, now that I had better shoes. If nothing else I was curious what all the fuss was about since we have several runners in our family and at church.
So my daugher agreed to join in (this time she was the one encouraging me). Then I paid for both of us to join in the Jingle All the 5k in Houston in December, and we started training (lightly at first) in November. The point of this part of the story is to tell you that this client (and friend) inspired me. It was the desire to encourage her in her goals that led me to be willing to take on a little bit of pain, but her desire to run inspired me. Kelly- I am so grateful!!
Chapter 5 No pain, no gain
Training, at first, was rough. The first run we timed, we were able to run about 2 minutes without stopping. This is when I think both of us were silently re-evaluating the whole plan. Wondering if we would get out again the next day to try to run 2 and a half minutes without stopping. The progress was gradual, but we did get back out there. We trained maybe 2 or 3 days a week. Nothing too intense. Just enough to see a little bit of progress. The progress when you first start running is so slow that it can be discouraging. It took us over a month of running to be able to run a full mile without stopping. Part of our mistake was that we didn't know how to pace ourselves, so we were running too fast. This wore us out and it was why we had to keep slowing down to walk. I remember the sucking wind. I remember the pain in the sides and turning beet red and having to stop and sit down on the curb. The wall, back then, came often and early. But we just kept breaking through. I think running with my daughter and having a goal with my client is what kept me going back out for another run. We also started doing research and looking for tips. We asked people what their best running tips were. We read books and magazines and blogs. We were committed. Because of that, we had plenty of pain, but we also had gain.
We gained good strength... and in the end, we ran that 5k with better times than we expected. She got first place in her age group with 33 minutes. Wow! we were so proud. I got 35 minutes and like 24th place in my age group. Not too bad since there were 90 ladies my age!! My husband and other daughter drove us to this first race. They were SO excited when Bella won her first place award. We all went to get burgers afterward. I had not had a real burger in probably 7 years. It was wonderful.
Chapter 6. Hot Chocolate.
After running the Jingle all the 5K, we knew about 15 minutes after finishing it that we wanted to run another 5k. We knew if we trained just a bit more we could both have done better. A friend invited us to join the Hot Chocolate 5K in late January. Training for this race was a challenge because we were training in 30 degree weather. However, we just kept getting out there. I read in a running blog that the runners that get out and keep running when it's really cold are the same runners that will have better race times in the Spring. It made sense, and now all of a sudden I find myself being competitive, so the part about having a better time (aka being closer to winning) sounded better and better. The race we were training for was promising hot chocolate at the finish line, so we just kept saying to each other "imagine how good that hot chocolate will be!". Finally race weekend had arrived and I was so excited the night before that I hardly slept at all. This, by the way, is not what I would recommend before trying to run a race. Sleep is really important; I was just too excited. So we woke up at like 4:30am, ate our oatmeal, sipped on a bit of coffee, I prayed for safety for us and the group we were running with, and then out the door we went. The race was hilly. Yes, elevation was something we weren't really ready for, but we got through it. Me and my daughter finished together at a time of 31 minutes and 59 seconds. This was 3 minutes faster than my time for the previous 5k. We waited for our friends to finish their 15k (I know- right?!), and then we all went to get the hot chocolate trays. It was fabulous.
We got hot chocolate, fondue, oreos, a banana, rice krispies and a couple of other things. When you get done running your heart out for 3 miles you are ready for a few bites of carbs, so this hot chocolate set up is perfect. We also think there should be a donut run and a cinnamon bun run.
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