The First Run – Training for a 10k

Oh god. My friend asked me to do a 10k run with her at the end of June. They have made it a virtual race, meaning the warm up will be done on Facebook live, the free merchandise will be mailed to us, and they will post the route prior to the day of the race… then I suppose we will just record our time? It’s cool to see how everyone is trying to adapt to COVID-19.

Anyways, I am not a runner. I enjoy strength training and can sprint while I’m playing sports, but long distance running is not my thing. I told my friend I could maybe handle a 5k run, which is an option, but I kind of want to challenge myself because I pretty much don’t have an excuse. I have a running buddy, I have all the time in the world, the weather is beautiful, and I have an end goal.

I immediately got my inhaler prescription renewed (which was expired for two years… what can I say, I hate cardio so therefore I tend to avoid it). I dusted off my old runners and planned the flattest route I could think of around my neighbourhood. My friend is planning a running schedule for us starting on Monday, but I had to test out just how bad my cardio was.

This morning I woke up, didn’t even look at my phone, warmed up a bit then began walking towards my path. I didn’t bring my phone or music or water or anything because I didn’t want to complicate the process – this will need to be fine-tuned later on. And so, I began a light jog.

I felt like I weighed 500 lbs. I could feel every part of my body dragging me down, confused that it wasn’t sitting on a couch. My muscles didn’t know how to wake up, and my spine just wanted to crumple into a terrible posture. I had lead feet and my knees were weak. How have I let my cardio go so far downhill?!

After a very, very short amount of time, I began to walk. I continued this method of running a little, then walking a lot, the whole way. It was quite painful in all sorts of ways. I was thinking back to when I played soccer and volleyball in high school, and how good my cardio was. However, back then I wasn’t very strong. So now I am somewhat strong but have terrible cardio. Wouldn’t it be amazing if I was both strong AND had good cardio?! Hmm… perhaps that could be a reality.

By the end I was completely out of breath and it had only been about half an hour. I did some long stretches when I got home, feeling good that I gave it a whirl. Not to mention, it was a gorgeous morning so I’m also glad I went outside.

I looked up “best breakfast to have after a run” for further motivation and excitement, even though I already know what my body needs. I chose the oatmeal and peanut butter option, topped with vanilla greek yogurt, cinnamon, and sliced banana. This happens every time I’ve tried to get into running. I get all excited and motivated for a couple of days until I realize it’s super not fun. I even made green tea… which is probably the last thing I would choose to drink in the morning, but I know it’s good for me.

Needless to say, I am looking forward to seeing my proper running schedule that I’ll do with my friend. She will be the person I need to keep me motivated and we can push each other to reach our goal. This just may be my chance to actually run a 10k.