Trippin'

Editor's Note: By request, Andrew is guest blogging (again), this time with permission.

It wouldn’t be hyperbole to say that I ran three steps and nearly tripped over my own feet as I realized what I was about to do.  But we’ll get to that.

I never ran, not as a kid (except in short, focused bursts down the 1st base line), or a teen (obviously) or anytime thereafter (I’m trying to ignore the fact that I’m practically middle-aged at this point).  I never thought I could run - more than a few steps - or if being chased by a bear or some other large, blood thirsty mammal, and I really had no desire to.  So I suppose it is slightly surprising that for the second spring in a row, I find myself spending 30 or 40 minutes a night, a few nights a week... running.  For fun.
Meghan started Couch to 5k last year (again - you can read about it here all the way back to 2008) and as usual I took it as my solemn duty to completely ignore the activity (hi: it involves RUNNING) - yet for some reason, at the beginning of May, I decided to “try” it as well - it was actually quite humorous - picture someone who can’t run for more than 10 seconds trying to run for 30... and then repeating that over and over again.  Yeah yeah, the definition of insanity, blah blah blah.  I came home a hot sweaty mess that first night, and I had run for a good... 3 minutes total, I’m pretty sure.
For whatever reason, and I can’t think of a good one after that first night, I stuck with it - I “graduated” from C25K a little early (read: I got sick of intervals) and got myself all the way up to 6 miles - in late June.  I had some fairly hot runs in July... and August... and then I suddenly shut it down in September and that was that.  A fun summer of running (protip: it wasn’t and isn’t fun) turned into the usual fall/winter of sloth.

If you’ve been following along with the regularly scheduled programming (and I’m assuming you didn’t just land here for my musings), you’ll know by know that Meghan is... running-averse... this year.  Which is truly quite a shame, because with a mild winter (yay global warming!) and dry conditions, I was able to start running in... wait for it... February this year.  And of course, having been fat and slothful for 6 months, I started with C25K again.
The intervals were easier - I was able to do the 30 seconds and 45 seconds and 90 seconds (wait a second, that’s over a minute! They tricked me!) and even 3 minutes without much of a problem.  And in fact, I “graduated” much sooner this year - I only did a few weeks of C25K before I felt my legs were ready to go - but not without one last reminder of how I don’t run (or, at least didn’t) - on a cold March Saturday morning I headed out for my first run that commenced my 5 minute intervals.  Up until that point, it had all been smooth sailing, but 5 seemed like a lot (never mind the hour-long runs I went on not 8 months prior) and ask I finished the warm up walk and my app told me to “run”  I took a few steps, thought about having to keep going for 5 whole minutes, and nearly got one leg tangled around the other in panic.  It was fairly entertaining at the time, and apparently it’s stuck with me as it’s one of my enduring memories of C25k 2012.
Apparently coming back for seconds this year has paid off - I’ve managed to beat my personal best time for 1 mile and 5 & 10k and also my overall distance record (up to 8.1 miles) and time (90 minutes).  If anything further of note happens you may happen about it here (my more mundane running updates show up on twitter - @ajg818).  Until then, please don’t hit me with your car (one of my secret fears) or yell out your window at me (surprisingly, I find that annoying).
(The views and opinions of the guest blogger are his own, and do not represent those of this blog, its author, or usually anyone else.  Contact Andrew @ajg818) - xsk2sp