New shoes..

I've always wondered how people get into running. I'm one of those athletes that has never experienced a "runners high." And I call myself an athlete?! Yes, I do. I swim. That's my sport. I don't swim competitively anymore but I still classiby myself as such simply because that's the environment in which I feel the most comfortable. The east at which you glide through the water and the rythm of the stroke and your breathing has always intrigued me and continues to do so, but it's hard to find a pool that's nice and close by.

I avoid gyms. I don't like the look., the smell, the way people look at you in them. I constantly feel like I'm being stared at--am I dont something awkwardly? I know I look funny... Those types of feelings make it more appealing for me to just stay at home and enjoy a good book. I like to go on walks and randomly dog-sit for my attorney, but that doesn't do much for you if it's on a consistent basis. However, because I am out of shape and do little to-- ok, ok, fine--do no exercise at all on a regular basis (and I should), I joined the crowd of people that go and stretch and run and walk naked around the locker rooms all without really associating with each other. I joined Bally's for $30/month, no contract, no start up fees, cancel at any time. The locker room isn't that bad, there are locations everywhere and most of them have, yep you guessed it: POOLS.

And I've been running.

It's not much, I'm incredibly out of shape, but it's something right? I gave it a couple of weeks and then went shopping this weekend. I've enjoyed it, surprisingly. I've been tryin to go a minimum of 3 times a week. I haven't done more than that, but I'm working up to it. So, finally getting into a semi-regular exercise and more, running, I bought a couple of gym "outfits" and a nice little gym bag for the essentials. I go before work and found Saturdays, while busy, nice. I am averaging a 12 minute mile- sometimes more and sometimes less. But I do a 5 minute brisk walk to warm up (after stretching of course) and then I run consistently for 10 or 15 minutes, followed by a cool down and more stretching. I just reached my 15 minutes run and let me tell you, it was hard. I don't run very fast, but consistently stick between 4.8 and 5.5mph on the treadmill.

Then a former paralegal came and visited on Fridya. She used to lead the running group at my firm. She's an incredible motivator.

That afternoon I decided I would run a 5K. That's about 3.1 miles. I figure I'm not setting my goals too high, but still, it's something I'm going to have to get serious about. And I think that's what I need. I don't really have an excuse not to go to the gym 3 times a week, or not to run 10-15 minutes consistently each time, but I still find myself making them up and skipping out. But now I have a reason to NOT come up with excuses.

I have looked up local 5K events and have picked two out that I would like to participate in. Since each run has a fee, that limites my interest in participating in more than a couple. One run I have decided on the proceeds go to the Jevnile Diabetes Research Foundation, an organization that obviously means a lot to me as I have juvenile diabetes. The other run is in support of the Maryland Center for Veterans. Dave is a veteran and is a Marylander, so that sounded good to me.

Now, I just need better shoe...