Tuesday, April 16, 2013

One. Run. Done.

As both of you know, I'm a walker these days. I still like to think I'll get back to running someday, but as long as I'm at this weight? Well, it's probably not a good idea to jackhammer my knees and hips any more than I need to. And the truth is: I don't need to do.

But today I did.

BlogHer tweeted this morning: Are you wearing a race shirt? Going for a run?

I saw it on Facebook and, to be honest, it hadn't crossed my mind. But suddenly, there was no way I wasn't going to run, and of course I'd be wearing a race shirt.

I ended up doing walk/run intervals, because it's just about impossible to go from walking regularly at 3 mph to being a full-fledged runner. You have to work up to it. Been there, done that. But I surprised myself by being able to run longer intervals than I'd thought I could, and more of them. I ended up finishing 4.6 miles in 1:06:27, a 14:26 pace, which is pretty darned good for this old lady.

The sun was shining, and there was a light breeze. The temperature was right around 70. It rained little white flower petals all along the road. Instead of cheering crowds, I heard birdsong and rushing water. There was one explosion, when I startled a deer, which then blasted through the underbrush. The trees are leafing out. Daffodils and dandelions cheerfully dot the mountainside. Spring has arrived here in Appalachia.

And I'm running.

2 comments:

Diandra said...

The good thing is that you can decide each day, based on your condition and mood, what you are going to do. My father regularly asks me not to go running because it must ruin my knees, but these days I simply cannot imagine not to run. Of course there are also the days when I can barely muster the energy to go for a walk... ^^

Anonymous said...

Good for you! I like the walk/run thing better than run/run.

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