I think running is stupid. I can't for the life of me understand why people to do it for exercise. I hate the feeling of hard concrete beneath my feet and the pounding of the pavement reverberating through my body. I hate the roughness of my breath & the feeling of all my flabby bits jiggling.
Swimming is much more my style. It's smooth. It's relaxing and therapeutic. No concrete, just water. In the pool I can match my breath with my movement, I feel weightless... and those flabby bits, they're squeezed tight into a Speedo that makes my stomach feel flat and my body feel strong.
I'd gladly swim 5 miles every damn day if it meant I never had to run again in my life.
But this Fit by Fourth challenge, it told me to run today. I'm not usually the most compliant person , but for some reason I acquiesced and gave it a shot.
I put on my shoes, my stretchy pants & sports bra and set out on a walk. I didn't have a running goal in mind, I just decided to start running when the urge hit me.
It didn't. Not once.
I was getting to the end of my walk, about a block and a half from my house and said to myself "It's now or never. If you make it home without having run even just a few steps you'll be irritated with yourself and it will bother you all day."
So I took a detour. I didn't want to try running for the first time in 2 years on a busy street full of people commuting to work or driving their kids to school. I turned down a small tree-lined street and told myself "Just make it to the end of the block." Within moments I was running. Well, more like jogging. It was slow and awkward and even the tiniest bit painful. My boobs felt like they were jumping up to my chin, my ankles wobbled as they adjusted to the concrete and all I could think about was the fact that I just needed to keep breathing.
Before I knew it, I made it to the end of the block. Still running I turned the corner and said "Just a little bit farther." I probably made it 10 more steps before returning to a walk. Heart pounding, I took a few deep breaths and slowly walked the rest of the way home.
I probably ran for a total of 45 seconds (if that!) and it really didn't feel that good. But I did it. And I'm proud of myself. I probably won't run much during this challenge (or ever in life for that matter) but it's nice to know that physically I'm able. It was a gentle reminder that my body is a lot stronger and more adaptable then I think it is.
Running just isn't my thing and that's OK. In the end, it was a fun experiment. One which brought me to the profound conclusion that I really need new workout shoes.
