I am (not) a Runner...Yet.

I want to be a runner.  Not a marathoner.  Just a runner.  I want to be able to jog along happily without needing to pause to catch my breath.  This doesn’t seem like it should be too hard, right?   I look around at others at the gym, jogging along on the treadmill at a steady pace and it looks easy.  Looks are deceiving.

I get on the treadmill and after a warm up I crank up my speed up between 5.0 and 5.5 and I start jogging.  30 seconds.  Stop. Pant. Walk. Walk. Walk.  30 second jog.  Pant. Pant. Walk. Glance over enviously at my neighbor running with ease.  Walk. 30 second jog. Repeat for 30 minutes.   I’m out of breath.  I feel like my legs can keep going but my lungs can’t keep up. 

But, I keep going.  By the end of week one, I worked up to 45 second intervals.  I’m now into week two and I’ve managed to run for two minutes straight but then had to knock it back down to 1 minute intervals. 

This is a lot harder than I thought it would be and in spite of how awkward I feel running I’m determined to do this.  If I can reach my goal weight, I can be a runner too.  And after watching My 120 Pound Journey, I’m also inspired.  This guy started out slow too.  And, look what he’s accomplished.  He found happiness along with losing120 pounds and running the Boston Marathon with his father and brother. 

If you want to do it, all you have to do is do it.