Runout

I've never been a runner. I hated gym class as it was during my entire junior and senior high school career, but I reserved a special type of hatred for those days that our thick-legged, angry gym teacher would announce that we were running for class that day.  So I am a little befuddled as to why I am currently trying to learn to run as an addition to my regular work-out routine.

The few times as an adult that I have attempted to run for any length of time have yielded varied, although consistently horrible results. I remember clearly the last time I "ran", if it could be called that, because it was really a fast, loping walk that lasted approximately 3 minutes. I went with a set of friends who were training for a triathlon- one was a distance marathoner, the other a self-proclaimed gym rat and police officer, and I gave up nearly instantly on trying to keep pace with them. That was 2 years ago.

This year, feeling stronger and more energetic than I have in years, I thought about training for a triathlon myself, but hesitated, being unsure if I could ever run the distance required for even a 'sprint tri', a shortened version of the regular tri's. To gain confidence, I sought the advice of a veteran runner, and carefully examined my own stride to help identify the right type of shoe when the time came to get serious.

In the meantime, I have been experimenting on the treadmill at the gym, walking for a bit, then running a few minutes, then walking again. It has gone better than I had anticipated, and I have hope for once that I would be able to learn to run better, making that first triathlon a little bit closer to reality.