Fitness: Running Start

I ran a half-marathon in October 2010.  

Prior to that day, the most I'd ever run was 10 miles.

Miraculously I ran the 13.1 miles of the half without stopping, and felt like a champion.

Then I took a break. Maybe I ran here and there, but definitely not consistently like I did before. My plan was to buy a 6 month membership to the local fitness center.  Close and cheap.  I wanted to use the winter months to do more strength training and focus on other forms of exercise instead of obsessing over running 24/7.  But alas, 3 1/2 months have gone by, I'm still "saving" money to go to a fitness center, and still dragging my feet to get back on track.

Luckily I've already registered and paid for 3 upcoming relays in May, June, and September.  May is Red Rock Moab, only one day; June is Ragnar Wasatch Back (Logan to Park City) and Fri-Sat; September is Red Rock St. George, Fri-Sat.  Although these might be less intimidating than a half-marathon (each race we run 3 legs of varying distances and difficulty levels), I'll have a team of other people depending on me to carry my weight and run well... so that puts pressure on me!

I need to run.

The point of my future "Fitness" blog posts is to make me accountable for the progress I'm attempting to make, and to hopefully inspire anyone who might be in a similar situation.  I am not a fitness guru and don't claim to have any great advice or tips.  I'm just trying to reach my goals. :)

So here we go, starting now.  I ran two days this week.  5 min run/1 min walk intervals up to 20-25 minutes.  I could have and should have gone farther but both mornings I had a late start and had to finish quickly to try to get to work on time.  I was late both days to work. But it felt good to get out and run again.  I didn't use my iPod, mainly because I was short on time and didn't want to fiddle with earbuds and worry about the one falling out of my right ear the whole run.  Still need to figure out a solution to that one.  But there is a route just right here in the neighborhood streets that loops around to almost exactly 20 min.  It works for now.  Better than waking up late and wishing I had done something.

Tomorrow I am meeting up with Heather and her ward friends for a "basketball practice" to get all geared up for the game on Thursday.  Should be a good time!

I want to feel "fit" again.