Run, Sara! Run!

I was prepared for the twitching legs.  I was dreading the burning lungs.  I had no idea that my mouth would taste like I taken a right hook to the chompers. 

I officially went for my first run, & I have to say the best part was saying to my son, "Mommy went for a run this morning."  Second to that was watching the steam billow off of me in the dark morning air once I was done.  I could do without the bloody mouth taste & the accute awareness of each & every one of my neighbors that might possibly be awake.

I've been building up to this baby run for a LONG time.  The first fledgling idea of me running came in October when I was looking for an easy-out anniversary gift for my husband.  I got a card, wrote something cute about wanting to run with him my whole life, blah blah blah, & I was off the hook for a gift just by promising to do a 5k with him in the spring.  But now it's time to pay the piper.

I had done a little research on how to train for my first outting.  Someone suggested that I check out Hal Higdon's website.  I did.  Ha.  Ha.  Ha.  He is clearly a knowledgable chap & I'm sure that he has a lot to offer to someone that is in a different place (physically, but most definitely mentally).  For a laugh, take a look at his "Novice" 5K training schedule  First run?  One & a half miles.  No offense, Hal, but our definitions of novice don't quite match up.

Hal got me spooked, but in rode C25K on a white horse...or white running shoes.  The plan seems do-able, both at my stage in physical fitness & for my schedule & it doesn't make me want to cry just thinking about it.  The only problem is that I'm a rule-monger.  If I miss one scheduled run, I know I'm liable to throw the whole thing out.  With that in mind I've been hemming & hawing & talking about it & shopping & talking about it & making playlists & talking about it...but not DOING IT.

Then I stumbled on the best blog: Ashleyanne is Doing It!  She's living up to her title; this girl is doing it & doing it good!  Man, is she inspirational.  We started out in fairly comparable places (not that I actually know her, but you know how it goes when you start digging into someone's blog...it's like reality TV only you only watch the confessionals for the characters that you care about!).  Anyway, while I was sitting around making excuses for why I couldn't move more, she started running & racing.  Reading about her journey spurred me to put the new gear on & actually GO.

I wanted to answer two questions with my first run:
1.  How far can I go without stopping?
2.  How long will it take me to do a mile?

Answers:
1.  0.44 miles
2.  12 minutes & 20 seconds

I think I'll do a couple more of these run-around-the-block-&-hope-that-no-one-sees-me runs & then go back to the C25K idea.  They've got an ipod app that will lay over my music & tell me when to switch between running & walking, so I can't use that as an excuse to not do it. 

I'm not fast, I'm certainly not pretty, but by gosh & by golly I'm a runner.