Learning to be a runner, weeks 2-3

Week 2 was a bit of a setback – with a chest cold, I couldn't get my lungs to carry me past three-quarters of a mile.

But this week so far is much better. I eked out a mile and a quarter last Friday, but yesterday I did 1.56 miles (that's half of a 5K; it's not just some weird number I picked), and today was the first day I tried to run two days in a row. I extended another tenth of a mile, for no good reason, really.

I'm mixing the running in with other physical activity, for several reasons.

» The easiest reason is I play tennis and softball in organized leagues, and I frequently ride my bike to get places. I'm not going to plan my life around running a couple of miles, making myself drive five blocks to the grocery store if I got on the treadmill at lunch.

» I want my body to understand running as part of group of exercises. If I was going to the gym to do some cardio, I'd hit three, four, five machines, but not the treadmill. Right now, I'm hitting the treadmill, and then doing a sprint on a bike (I've got five miles down to about 11 minutes on about 40% tension over a given pre-programmed course).

» I don't want to get bored, which I do pretty easily.

The local Corporate Challenge is June 24 this year, and I'm hoping to be able to handle it without (a) walking any of it, or (b) having to crawl into the office the next morning.

Learning to be a runner, week 1

OK...I successfully did one mile, three times, and feel OK about it. Pretty good about it, actually. It turns out if you listen to songs that are about 5 minutes long, you can warm up and then run a mile over the course of three songs. That seems to make it not bad at all – run for two songs and then you're done.

I've got a bit of a cold right now, but I'm getting on a train shortly, and headed for a few days off in the great state Commonwealth of Massachusetts (we need a word that rhymes well with commonwealth).

If the lungs hold up through the sniffling, I think we're going to up it to a mile and half Saturday, and see how we feel Sunday.

We'll let you know how that goes.

Learning to be a runner, Day 1

On Thursday of last week, I took advantage of the lovely weather to wander over to Fleet Feet, the local running shop.

I'd been there before, and been very impressed. They come over to you, they introduce themselves, they measure your feet, they put you on a treadmill and videotape you running so they'll know what to do in terms of shoes.

Outstanding, right?

Yeah.

That was a little over two years ago. I decided I was going to learn how to run.

I kept at it for a month or two, and did pretty well – I had my 5K time down to about 26 minutes, after never having done anything like running before.

I realize now that I was setting the wrong goal. I had wanted to learn how to run – and I accomplished that.

I was doing 26-minute 5Ks (that's about 3.12 miles those of you who can't convert in your head – what's wrong with you!?), but I was doing 26-minute 5Ks while being bored and sore and hating every minute of it.

I didn't do any running last summer.

So this year, I've decided to set myself a new goal: rather than learning to run, I want to learn to be a runner. Someone who likes running. Someone who can be sitting around in a strange city feeling like a vegetable and decide to go for a run, because it's good exercise, and it's good for the spirit.

So I took my-20-pounds-lighter-than-last-time-self over to Fleet Feet, and they looked me up in the computer. The shoes are a half-size smaller, and two widths narrower than two years ago. My landing doesn't correct as much as it used to, so the shoes are a little more padded on the outside.

And I just went over to the gym and did a mile on the treadmill (I walked a quarter-mile first, then ran a mile; I was almost ready to give up after 3/4 of a mile of running, but I said, hey, what the heck, one more time around the track).

Two years ago, I would have made it another mile, but instead, I did a mile, then climbed on a bike (where I'm much more comfortable) for 10 minutes.

I'm quite sure my quads haven't hurt this much in a really long time. I can't even really feel anything below my quads. OK, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration (maybe).

But rather than take that pain and say, "crap, if it's gonna hurt, I might as well hate this for another mile," I've decided to take the pain and say, "OK, now I know what to expect."

So tomorrow, when I jump on the treadmill to do another mile, I'll know what's going to feel like what, and that I shouldn't try to climb stairs right after it.

And maybe, just maybe, given a month or two, I'll be running 26-minute 5Ks and enjoying it.

Stay tuned.