Training Day

Justyn and I decided that we want to try running. I mean, like a real race.

I have never considered myself the running type, but I've realized living in Portland, that exercising and being healthy is totally contagious. And, for me that's a good thing, because I've been known to be kind of a quitter when it comes to physical exertion. I feel terribly uncomfortable when I exercise... my hair gets all sweaty around my face/neck, and my face gets all hot and red. And afterwards I always feel like I'm going to pass out. I have a pretty serious fear that I might give myself some sort of heart failure if I over-exert myself. I have no idea what my target heart rate is supposed to be, but I'm pretty sure that mine must get up to like 180 bpm.

Portland has an amazingly large percentage of people that are active. Almost every person you meet is into some sort of outdoor activity: skiing, snowboarding, running, kayaking, climbing, you name it. Which, to me, is kind of odd, considering that Portland is known for having awful weather. Anyway, some people at Justyn's office are training for a half marathon, and he feels left out. The half marathon is in January, so I asked my runner friend Amy if it's possible to train for a half marathon in 2 months (shows how much I know, right?) The answer is a resounding "NO," for those of you who are as ignorant as I am about such things. So she suggested a 5k for winter, and then if it goes well, we'll try for the half marathon in Eugene which happens in May. She also sent me a "Couch to 5k" training plan, and considering we are essentially starting from the couch (aside from some vigorous hiking we've been doing, and 30 minutes a day on the elliptical machine), we decided to go for it.

After a solid week of procrastinating (I'm kind of tired, or it's a little dark, or it's raining, or it's cold, or I have a little headache, or maybe I'm getting sick), we finally got off our rumps to start training. Overall, it went pretty well. I didn't have any problem maintaining the intervals, but I did get super tired after about 12 minutes, and the running portions seemed to get longer. But we stuck with it, and finished our 20 minutes (plus stretching and warm-up, of course). I know I'll hurt tomorrow.

Issues I need to resolve quickly:

Ears - I believe that my ear holes/canals are either abnormally large, or they are aerodynamically shaped in such a way that allows cold air to rush into my ear canal at an alarming rate. The result is that after being outside in the cold (even if it's mildly windy...I promise I wasn't running THAT fast) my ears hurt. Like bad. So, I wonder if I should try earplugs of some sort, or some kind of wrap or hat? Or possibly some earmuffs?

Photo courtesy of http://www.funnyjunk.com/

Breathing - I think I'm not breathing correctly when running. I try to time my breathing with my pace... so for instance, I breathe in for 3 steps, and breathe out for 3 steps. It seems to be working okay but I always start feeling a little stitch in my side about halfway in, which makes me feel like quitting. I also breathe through my mouth, which I'm not sure is the right thing to do. I think not, because the inside of my mouth gets all filmy and weird.

Posture - Sometimes I feel like my bottom half is moving at a different pace than my top half, and that it's quite possible that I look like Quasimodo to bystanders. Also, my neck kind of hurts now (about 3 hours after), so I'm pretty sure something weird is going on. I need to run in a mirror, just to make sure I look cool. Because I'm pretty sure I don't.

Clothing/Temperature Control - Tonight when we ran it was somewhere between 55 and 60 degrees. I wore cotton yoga pants, a sports bra/top and a light cotton jacket. I ran the first few intervals with the jacket on, then got super hot and so I unzipped it. Then it proceeded to flap around while I was trying to run, so I tied it around my waist. That wasn't much better, because then it was not only flapping around, but was also hitting my legs at the same time which was super annoying. But, my top half was cooler so at least that part worked out.

Timing - I have a Timex Expedition watch, which I have had for a while (I use it as my 'casual' watch). I have never used it for its functions. It's a good thing. The first week of the 5k training is to run for 60 seconds and walk for 90. My timer only has one setting, so I can time the 60 seconds each time I start to run, but then don't have a way of timing the 90. So I thought maybe the Chrono setting would work, but then I'm having to do quick math in my head and have to look at my watch constantly. Not fun. Not to mention that it is uber-dark where we ran, so I had to also hit the Indiglo button so I could read it. Maybe I need a stop-watch, or some kind of funky running/training device that I don't realize even exists?

I'm telling you all of this because I figure I should just get all my excuses out of the way first. I realize that these things could undermine my goal and I'd rather just get it out in the open. All of that being said, I did feel pretty good afterward. Tired, but good. And hungry.

I hope this doesn't come across as a negative post... on the contrary: my hope is that someone out there reading this will realize that maybe they're not the only ones who have all of these hangups. And then maybe you will get off your rump and start running too!