I began running in August 2010 in order to help my weight loss journey. I began with the Couch to 5K program, but didn’t make it past Week 5. I gave up my attempts at running until January 2011. It took another 14 months before I was able to run a (very slow) full 5K.
I have never been good at running, no matter my size. In middle and high school, I was a competitive swimmer and very petite. We cross-trained with weights, intervals, stairs, and running, and I hated the running bits. I was always slow and awkward – didn’t know how to run properly. After I stopped swimming, I never bothered to run again until picking it up in 2010-2011. It does not surprise me that my progress has been excruciatingly slow. Unlike most people, I wasn’t able to train for a 5K in two months, or very quickly drop from a 15-minute mile to a 10-or-less-minute mile. As of October 2012, despite running for over two years, the longest I’d ever been able to run is 3.1 miles, and (until September 2012) I could do that distance faster if I walked/ran than if I ran the whole time. I am a terrible runner, and never expected to be good at it.
What did surprise me was how much I have grown to love running. I’m willing to run outdoors in very hot San Antonio summer mornings, to do running interval training, and to look like a fool running at pace so slow that some walkers pass me. I was devastated when a stress fracture during the summer of 2012 kept me from running for almost three months. I may not be the most regular runner, or the fastest, or the most competitive, but I am a devoted runner. I am slow and plodding, but I do keep getting better with time, and hope to one day call myself a real runner.
Some stats and misc running info:
1 Mile
1st: ~14:40 – 3/25/12*
PR: 9:21 – 1/23/13 – Comanche Lookout Park
*Note: I ran my first full mile sometime in the summer of 2011, but didn’t record my time for it. The first recorded mile I have is from my first 5K in March 2012.
5K
1st (walk/run): 53:54 – 3/19/11 – Shamrock Shuffle
1st (full run): 45:22 – 3/25/12 – treadmill
PR: 33:43 – 8/29/13 – school block (training)
10K
1st (full run): 82:01 – 1/12/13 – Salado Creek Trail
PR: 82:01 – 1/12/13 – Salado Creek Trail
Official Events:
Get Your Rear in Gear 5K – 3/28/10 – untimed (walked with friends)
Shamrock Shuffle 5K – 3/19/11 – 53:54 (walk/run)
Get Your Rear in Gear 5K – 3/27/11 – untimed (walked with friends)
Walk for Autism (2 miles) – 4/16/11 – untimed (walked with friends)
Feast of the Heart 5K – 10/29/11 – 40:27 (walk/run)
Feast of the Heart 5K – 10/28/12 – 37:03
Dirty Girl Mud Run 5K + obstacles – 12/1/12 – untimed
Color Me Rad 5K – 12/2/12 – untimed (~42 mins)
Run 4 Hope 5K – 2/23/13 – 35:34
YOSA 5K – 4/13/13 – 43:34 (walking)
Run 4 Hope 5K – 2/22/14 – ~60 min (untimed, walked w/friends post-surgery)
YOSA 5K – 4/12/14 – 35:31 (walk/run)
Run 4 Hope 5K – 3/28/15 – 57:33 (walked with friends while on vacation)
Run 4 Hope 5K – 3/5/16 – 49:00 (walked with a couple running intervals)
Goals:
– to run a sub-37:12 5K (12:00-min-mile pace) – COMPLETE 10/28/12
– to run a sub-37:00 5K – COMPLETE 11/25/12
– to participate in a mud/obstacle run – COMPLETE 12/1/12
– to participate in a color run – COMPLETE 12/2/12
– to run a sub-31:00 5K (10:00-min-mile pace)
– to run a sub-30:00 5K
– to run a 10K – COMPLETE 1/12/13
The Zen Leaf 