Get Fit Quickly

Mac is preaching (and practicing!) the get fit slowly point of view. It is a very sensible plan, one the doctor in me whole-heartedly supports,but one the rest of me has a big problem with. I am more of an all or nothing kind of person, and so I am trying to get on the fast track to fitness.

I have been whining to Mac recently about being out of shape, needing to run, blah, blah, blah. But New year's came and went without serving as an inspiration to get moving. But two recent conversations with friends served as the push that I needed.

First, my good friend Debbie told me she was planning to do the Honolulu marathon this year (Dec. '08). Debbie had her son five months after I had mine, so it seemed like I should be able to get back in to shape five months before her.

And then, I tried to convince another friend to do the Portland marathon. I figured if he committed to it, it would become a priority and he would do it and feel good about it. It all sounded like good advice, so I decided to heed it.

And so on Tuesday, I ran two miles. And then Saturday I ran three. And since I was running again, I thought I might as well do a 10K today and so I did.

It is probably not advisable to run a race when all of your total training mileage put together is less than the actual race distance (6.25 miles), and so it should come as no surprise that I ran my slowest time ever, by a long shot. My unofficial time of 55:30 is a time that I hope to be able to run when I am 55. But I ran the whole thing. The last mile was very painful, as all last miles are. Afterward, I was tired and quite sore - sore enough to curse our two-story house and its thigh-searing staircase- but I also felt great. I had that exhausted exhilaration that I remember so well, the runner's high, one could say.

This has helped motivate me to get running again and I hope I stay motivated. Especially, since at this accelerated training pace, I should be ready to run the Vancouver (WA) half marathon in two weeks. ;)