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Saturday, June 16, 2012

Training Up Mama

It has come to this. I have been proven to be pathetically out of shape.

I have known that physically, my children are getting bigger and stronger than I am. However, since I do not do meet them in combat in kung-fu, and I do not regularly chase after them anymore, I had not tested the exact decripitude to which I might have descended, at least compared to the kids.

I have been mumbling about getting started running for the past several months. I even bought these great barefoot running shoes that have completely resolved my ankle, knee and hip pain, at least while walking in them. But running, I was not. I was walking, a lot, even jogging for a few yards during my walk, but it could not be called running.

It took Lily and her enthusiasm for running to get me started. She has been patient and not laughed at me. I was a disaster area the first day out.
I overheated, it felt like I was dying. I only made it for about 3/4 of a mile, while she ran 2 miles. I showed up at home a full twenty minutes after her return. Since then, though I am not able to run the entire 2 miles, I have made progress: in not feeling like I will collapse, and in making it almost all the way home jogging.

I will keep dragging my sorry self the 2 miles until I can breathe all the way through, then increase the distance, little by little. Our goal, Lily's and mine: we will run the Race for the Cure next year, a family tradition.

Old philosophy: why run? Running hurts, it has to be an act of folly and a little bit masochistic. 
New philosophy: why not run? When I get home from a run/shuffle, I feel great. I have sweated off  what feels like a ton of toxins and managed to do something that was unattainable yesterday. My breathing may be a little on the ragged side, but I survived yet another attempt. 

Yaay for children, pushing us beyond our limits into new horizons and on to better health and a better life. (Sorry, Aragorn and Arthur, I still don't see myself skateboarding and holding onto even a shred of dignity or escaping without grievous bodily injury.) Maybe next year.

2 comments:

  1. Glad to read of your new pursuit (no pun intended). To work on your lungs and endurance, you might try riding a bike in a low gear. This will put less stress on your knees, hips, etc., while giving you an arobic? (high repetition workout).

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the tip! I doubt I'll be doing much of either until the blessed heat subsides, but I may give biking a try.

    ReplyDelete

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