Running on Empty

Six weeks ago I started running with a local running group. I had gained a little weight lately and been less active, so I thought this would be a great way to get back in shape. The group has coaches who are trained to work with beginners. I was starting from ground zero, so I guess I qualified as a beginner! The idea is to gradually increase our run time, with as little injury as possible, until we can run for 30 minutes straight.
Week one was running for two minutes and walking for four minutes. I did this for thirty minutes. The first two minutes were tough. I was catching my breath and watching my watch pass the seconds. But it felt so great to get my heart rate up and the oxygen flowing through my cells. I was determined I was going to stick to this.
Week two moved to three minutes running and three minutes walking. I remember feeling very proud of that extra minute. Then week three moved to four minutes running and two minutes walking. I was on top of the world. I was feeling powerful and free. The depression that had been creepeing into my life was even improving.
Then I got a little cocky and went out on a very strenuous ten mile hike. The hike was wonderful, but my body was not ready for it. My knees suffered. I was in pain when I ran and in pain when I didn't run. I decided to use RICE (rest, ice compression and elevation). It helped but the pain was still there. I began to get discouraged. I wondered if I would ever be able to catch up to the running plan. This runing thing had become so important to me and I didn't even realize it until I couldn't do it. In an attempt to not give up I went out after a week and decided to run again. It felt great to be running. I felt the strength was still there, but my knees were tense. I pushed on through and finished my run. The next day I had a foot cramp that lasted all day. I could not put any weight on that foot.
That almost became the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. I gave up for a little bit. Maybe I wasn't cut out to run after all. I didn't run for a week and a half. I became depressed at the thought of losing the ground I had gained. I became depressed at the thought of becoming more depressed without running to help me. I was about to give up when my mother-in-law convinced me that I needed to try new shoes first. So we went to the running shoe store and had the expert fit me for running shoes. It worked! I dragged myself out of bed last Saturday morning to go to the group meet. I figured if I still had pain I would just walk. I set my goal at running 5 minutes, walking two. I figured that would be pushing it, but I couldn't bear to begin again. I ran the five minutes easily and without pain!!
In fact, Monday morning I increased my run to seven minutes and did great! I am so excited! I am glad I was surrounded by people who would not let me give up. Tomorrow I run in my very first 5K run. I can't wait!!! I'll let you know how it goes and keep you updated on the ups and downs of running.
I hope to update this weekly at the very least to get the real time issues of running across to my readers. That will also keep my posts a lot shorter!