Running no longer hates me

Seeing as I’ve already run my 5K, I admit that it’s anticlimactic to make this announcement, but I officially finished Couch to 5K today! To satisfy my need to check off all the boxes and earn my hypothetical gold star, I continued with the prescribed workouts to complete the program. This week, I jogged for thirty minutes on three mornings for an approximate distance of 2.35 miles each time (plus another quarter mile for my warm-up walk). I am immensely proud of myself.

The air has crisped up ever so slightly, so my morning runs are much more pleasant than when I began C25K over the summer.  Our neighborhood is unnervingly dark when I leave the house, but the sun rises soon enough to give way to a pearly dawn.  I start out heading east, watching the blue sky lighten with a brash lining of orange.  There are several moderate hills in my route between the comfortable areas of level ground, and I’m accustomed now to pushing through the tough spots with the knowledge that the world will soon return to Happy Flat Land.  Since I passed the 20-minute mark, I’ve broken the habit of checking my watch every forty seconds, thank goodness.  I know from my distance about how long I’ve been running, and the metronome of my sneakers slapping on the sidewalk keeps me steady.  Before I know it, I only have two minutes to go, and then I’m back at the house to retrieve Ted for his walk, or as I like to call it, “my 1.25-mile cool-down.”

I have no big training plans in place for the future.  The annual Kennett Run takes place in May, so I’ll probably sign up for the 5K then.  In the meantime, I’d like to keep up with three 30-minute runs each week, but my left knee has been acting up recently on inclines and toward the end of my route.  It’s just the faintest of twinges, but it worries me and reminds me that running is a high-impact activity.  For the next few weeks, I’ll replace one of my morning runs with yoga or core conditioning to prevent any major issues.  I also plan on looking up treadmill workouts so that I can keep up my endurance during the coldest months.

I would not call myself a runner, by any means.  My pace is not fast, my form is not clean, and my shoes are not high-end.  My morning workouts are just that: work.  I like being outside, getting fresh air, and starting my day with something healthy, but running does not come naturally to me.  C25K appealed to my sense of duty and discipline, and my incremental progress each week was encouraging.  I don’t know if I lost any weight or gained any muscle, but I can jog steadily for thirty minutes, and for me, that is a huge change.

I began the summer boldly proclaiming that I hated running, and now I might say that I almost maybe enjoy it.  When I am not struggling up hills or gasping for breath, I find it surprisingly calming.  If nothing else, running no longer hates me, so I’ll take it.