The First.

I wish I could remember my first run. I mean, I kinda of remember it. I had been running on the treadmill at the gym, 2 or 3 miles a few days a week. I had only ever run maybe 6 miles outside in my entire life and they always felt miserable. For some reason though, this time I thought I’d go for a run. Someplace new and pretty. Thanks to Google Earth, I found a trail in Hobart that went past two lakes and through miles of forest and some prairies. The satellite pictures were enough to convince me. So on a chilly late winter Saturday (in February? maybe early March?) I ran slow and steady until I got sick of running. Then I turned around and ran all the way back to my car. I had run for over an hour! When I measured it out on Google Earth at home, it cam to 6 miles all together! That’s how I became a longer distance runner. It became a weekly event. Me, my music, and my trail.

Looking back now, I wish I would have written down the date of my first real run. I wish I knew now what I was thinking back then, how I felt before and after. I’d really like to know what my times were and even my body measurements. I know I’ve come a long way, but probably a lot farther than I can recall.

Today, my little sister started running! I want to do for her what I regret not doing for myself. I tracked our run on my Run Keeper app, and took a before picture. I let her borrow my Mizuno’s so she’d have really good comfortable running shoes. We did it right! I’m really impressed with her today. It was only 35º outside today and there was almost 2 inches of snow on the ground! We exchanged text complaints about the weather for a little bit and then decided to suck it up, stick to our plan, and just do it. We met at our mom’s house because she was watching my niece (my sister’s daughter) while my sister was at work. After she changed, we bundled up my niece in the jogging stroller and we were off!

Before my sister’s first run!

Yep, I posted that. You look great. Don’t you dare complain! And yes, you’re right. I do have the skinniest ankles ever. Compression wear is apparently more effective than I realized!

Anyway, we just ran a couple loops around a block near my mom’s house. She’s sort of following the Couch to 5k plan. So we walked 90 seconds, ran 60 seconds 8 times. It came out to be 1.25 miles in 20 minutes. She even ran her last minute at my pace! I’m so proud of her and her commitment to taking back her health. Not even winter in April could stop her!

After she left, I decided to get a few more miles in since I was already outside and dressed and ready to run. I missed my run yesterday because I stayed up super late Sunday night writing. Oops! I decided to run another 3 miles so I’d have a total of 4.25 for the day. It was brutal.I’m really not good at running outside when it’s cold out. I started to have some asthma problems again and I couldn’t keep to my normal pace. I just felt like it was taking way too much effort. But at least I finished. My overall time was 27 minutes, 52 seconds with an average 9:18 minute per mile pace. Normally I’d do 3 miles (especially after 2 rest days…) around a 9 minute pace, but given the weather, I’ll take a 9:18. It’s loads better than a few years ago when I was running a 10:30 average! My splits at least were pretty dead on. Something I’m still really working on – starting slow, finishing strong.

 

I’m excited for Thursday when we get to run again. At least the weather will be better! Anyone have some encouragement for my sister? Maybe the story of your first run?