The good, the bad and the j...

Three months ago I took up running again. I say 'again' like it was a regular thing before but it really wasn't. Every now and then I would take it up in a frantic bid to slim thighs and develop some cardio endurance and for a few weeks I would pound along the Quays before sunrise or jog the main thoroughfare in the Phoenix Park. Then I would reach said goal; a few pounds dropped, the mini-marathon run and I'd pretty much drop running and take up eating again.

This January I embarked on a 13 week run/walk program which very slowly leads you up to running 10k straight but does so in a gently gently softly softly get no injuries manner. This was a bit different than my old 'just fucking do it ya big fat loser' training method. Arrogantly, I wasn't sure this was for me, would I really be able to restrain my inner Pheidippides and go at such a slow pace. Would I be able to stick with such a relatively long program? In short - yes. Though there was a week or two during the February sickness when I had to put off a run or two I have stuck with it and ran the final 10k yesterday - huzzah!

It doesn't matter that me left knee hurts so badly today I can barely walk. It doesn't matter that I stopped halfway at the best patisserie in the city to buy croissants (not to eat while running mind you, but a nice well done let's put the calories back in ya treat for after).


The good is:
I can now run 10k without gasping like a splayed frog on a rock in the sahara.
I will hopefully lose the excess poundage in the next few months.
I have started to build up some cardio endurance!
I actually like it...well most of the time.

The bad is:
Ok - my knee hurts like a sonofabitch at the moment.
I am terribly slow and feel very turtlish when being passed by other runners. Will I ever have any real pace I wonder?
Paul is protesting against me spending $200 on a super fancy heart rate monitor that like the Blackberry he wants, neither of us particularly needs - but desires very much.

The jogly is:
I may consider running a half-marathon...at some point.

Anywho...I'm signed up to run a 10k race on Mother's Day. Here's hoping I come middle of the pack and not be the straggler crawling to the end, after dark, tripping over empty water bottles, to the cheers of the janitor dude sweeping up at the finish line.