First Run

The first time I ran, it was with the Runners Club. We meet on Friday mornings and do a short run. It's a great time to ask questions and learn a few things. Jim explained that for marathon training, I'd need to learn how to pace myself. As you run, the chemicals in your body get used up, causing muscle fatigue. If you've ever watched people run a marathon you may have seen some people having a hard time moving near the end. Here's why....

When you run, your body uses carbs and fatty acids as fuel, as you run, your heart cannot keep up with the need for oxygen and starts to burn glucose in the absence of oxygen. It's not a very efficient way to get energy and causes a lactic acid build up in the blood and tissue, making your muscles feel like lead weights. And we cannot run on lead weights. Trust me, I've tried. Kinda....I stop way before I let that happen....

GOOD NEWS: By slowing to a power walk, you can rebuild your oxygen levels pretty quickly and get moving again. YAY! So for me, he had me run a slow pace, like a 10-11 minute mile and power walk when I found I couldn't take a deep breath. Which was about every 50 feet at first...LOL...but I learned that the breathing and the tiredness does fade when I give my body time to rejuve. So, I'd run about a mile, power walk about 30-45 seconds and repeat the pace. It has taken me 3 months to finally figure this all out. I like to win, and it gets me in trouble sometimes because I tended to sprint in my first mile, using all my energy too quickly. I could do a 7 minute 1st mile, but then my 2nd mile was 12 minutes... 3rd was 16...see the pattern? I was very frustrated. I felt like I had so much to learn, and I was right.

That first run with the club was exciting and I loved it. I tried to take in all the advice I was hearing and keep up with the other runners. I had to keep stopping to walk, my breathing was awful. I really had a lot to learn.