Ah.. running.
I can’t imagine a world where people genuinely enjoy running. The sweating, the running out of breath, the soreness of the muscles, the stickiness of the skin when you get back home and don’t know whether you should wash your hair again that day or not…We all agree exercising is not fun, right?
Just kidding. Well. Kind of. Exercising can be an enjoyable experience, even the sweating and the running out of breath. But I don’t know if I’m there yet. I feel good when I work out, but do I actually find working out fun? I find Instagram fun. I find playing with my nephew in puddles of rain fun. I find blogging fun. I fun editing videos fun. I find running good. Running isn’t necessarily fun for me. What’s fun for me is watching my body do more each day. I like challenging myself and witness my own improvement. I like the feeling of knowing I can run for more than 30 seconds because it means I’m improving my health and physical shape. My heart is getting stronger, my lungs are breathing better. I don’t know how true that all is, but I feel it, so don’t pop my balloon.
I try to make walking and running fun by entertaining myself with music, social media & people watching. Music does make all the difference. Giving myself little challenges as I run makes it feel entertaining. I usually tell myself I have to run to a certain point before stopping, like a bench or tree, in order to win. The point is: I try to make running fun, but the act of running is not fun for me; the benefits of running are. Leading up to training for a 5K I woke up one day and decided, for no particular reason, that I was going to train for a 5K. I said: “August sounds like a good month to train.” I don’t even have a date set for my first 5K, but the training shall commence.
I have wanted to do a 5K my whole life for about a few months. I started my health journey back in January 2019, soon after, I felt like I wanted to start getting in shape to be able to run a 5K one day, and the idea of it gave me some structure. Since expressing my interest in wanting to run a 5K, I’ve received tons of great tips, some of which I’ll be looking into in order to improve my running.
These are all the tips I’ve received thus far:
- Articles on how to breathe right while running
- Looking up YouTube videos on how to run and step
- Different apps that help you run (Like the Couch to 5K app)
- Different energy drinks (Like Gatorade) & protein bars to boost endurance
- Other forms of exercises that compliment training: such as hot yoga and swimming.
All of these tips can also be found with a quick google search if you need them!
The Training & Schedule
I’ll train on pavement because 5Ks are not ran on treadmills. Using a treadmill will only happen when it’s too hot outside or raining. Otherwise, I’ll be training in the mornings before work at my park. Training for the 5K won’t be replacing my time at the gym, but if I can't make it to the gym, at least I know I got my training in. In addition to this, I've decided that I won’t be using an app to help me train for my 5K. There are plenty of great options that actually work, but I want to do this on my own. I didn’t feel comfortable using an app last time because I couldn’t meet the app’s expectations of running for a certain amount of time, power walk, rest, jog, and then do it again. It felt like pressure, and it made me feel disappointed when I couldn’t keep up with the commands. I like figuring it out on my own and listening to my body. So I decided to create my own schedule, reducing the pressure to meet the standards of an app, but still pushing myself.
Here it is: The Schedule
From August 5th, 2019 to Saturday, August 10th, 2019: Walk for a mile every day, and run as much as I can within that mile.
From Monday, August 12th, 2019 to Saturday, August 17th, 2019: Walk for two miles every day, and run as much as I can within those two miles.
From Monday, August 19th, 2019 to Saturday, August 24th, 2019: Walk for two miles and a half, every other day, and run as much as I can within those two miles.
From Monday, August 26th, 2019 to Saturday, September 1st, 2019: Walk for 3.10 miles, every other day, and run as much as I can within those miles.
I’ll also be trying hot yoga for breathing exercises and doing other types of cardio and basic strength training, whenever I can.
3.10 miles = 5K
The Waking Up
I like walking or running in the mornings because it's fresh out and it wakes me up. I feel more energized throughout the day when I workout in the morning. The endorphins or whatever people say. It takes me some time to get up, but I'm naturally an early riser, so it's all about getting used to waking up a little earlier than usual. It comes from my family, we are all early risers. My family's groupchat in the morning is usually popping by 6 a.m. in the morning. My parents live in Peru, my brother and I live in Miami, and with the distance and all, we are all up and talking bright and early. It takes me some time to get out of bed, but I give myself the push by just DOING IT. That decision takes a second: Get up or stay in bed. I say "Just get up" and I do. I also think we all have internal clocks, and waking up early is a matter of habit. It might suck the first week, but then your body gets used to it. It's not for everybody, and it might be harder for some, but it only sucks for the first few times for me.
Rain or Shine
This is a commitment I have made to myself for the month of August. Which means... Rain or shine. Morning, afternoon or night. I’ll listen to my body, and if I’m feeling too tired, I won’t push myself too hard, so I’ll rest. I’ll run as much as I can, and walk it out when I need rest, and then keep it pushing. A whole month of training.
Baby steps.
Build it up. Work it out. Get up, get out, get training!
This is how my first day of training went: Vlog
Be kind to people.
-Cabi
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