Run, Girl, Run!

So... as those involved in my Ko-Fi well know now, I have started run training. Oh, hush. I know I've tried before and just let it trail off. I know, alright?

Anyway, I have started with a couch to 5K programme, because I cannot run 5K and that really irks me. I think I've a relatively good fitness level, despite being chubby, what with my martial arts training and walking nearly two hours a day... on work days at least. But I can't run a 5K. For me, personally, I find this appalling.

I think I have to add a disclaimer here, because for some reason, some people take what I find as a personal failing as some kind of judgement on them. So, disclaimer: In no way am I saying anyone is less "good" if they cannot run a 5K. There are a multitude of reasons as to why that might be the case, and you can't tell just by looking at a person as to their personal level of fitness or ability. So I'm not judging anyone. It's just for me, personally, the fact that I am able, but cannot, run a 5K is irritating to me and I, personally, find this a personal failure, not a failing in general. Alright? Alright.

Right, with that out of the way, let's continue.

I often joke with my martial arts training that I'm preparing for the apocalypse. Which apocalypse? Who knows? Alien invasion? World War III? An invasion of Canada by the US military? Zombies? Any one of these scenarios will do. Currently, largely because of the work I've done on The Timbercreek Incident, and the hella fun couch to 5K programme I'm using currently, it's Zombies I'm preparing for. Ostensibly.

Anyway, the programme is by the same folks who delivered Zombies! Run, a running app that gamifies the act of running (ZRX). You are a new resident of the township of Abel, a fortified town that is eking out an existence in the post-apocalyptic landscape of a Zombie outbreak. Each run is a mission, and each mission is part of the larger story of Abel and its residents. If running is mind-numbingly boring, and your brain needs engagement (which mine does, and part of the reason I love martial arts so much... but that's a point for another post), I cannot recommend this app enough. It's been a long, long while since I've used it, so the return is both odd and weirdly comforting.

I have finished the first week of training as of the writing of this, and am just about to begin the second week. I should have the first session of the second week done by the time you're reading this. The second week is going to suck, because it's supposed to rain on all my running days bar one. Gross. That's besides the point.

The first week was not what I would call fun, but it wasn't bad at all, and I noticed some improvement immediately. Week one is structured like this:

3 sessions a week, each on the same - ten minute walking warm-up, one minute walking with fifteen second running intervals ten times, then a ten minute free run/walk finish. For those fifteen seconds, you're supposed to run slowly, and for the last ten minutes you run as you are able, and walk if you're not.

The first time out, I did run slowly for those fifteen seconds, and ended up walking and running in intervals for the last ten minutes. I was not having fun. It really pissed me off that I couldn't run the full final ten minutes.

Remember when you were a kid and you could just... run? And it felt good, and freeing, and fun, even if you weren't fast? I want that back.

Session one was not it.

The second session was way more fun. Instead of running slowly for those fifteen second intervals, I instead just let my stride lengthen and ran. Proper running. Not a sprint, but still a run. And it felt great! Letting my legs stretch out like that for fifteen seconds felt really good. It was not kind on my lungs, but it was still awesome; a small glimpse into that time when I was a kid and could just... run.

The ten minute ending ended up being similarly good. I ran the whole time. Not fast. Not with the same long, loose stride as the fifteen second intervals. But I didn't walk. I managed the full thing. That was a small victory that felt really good. I'm still miffed that I can't run for 5K straight, but I can now run for ten minutes straight, and that's a victory. I'll take it.

Session three did not go so well. I did the same thing, but I had to force myself out to run, and I didn't find the same ease of stride for those fifteen second intervals as session two, and the final ten minutes were pure hell (thank heavens for music). Still, I did it. I finished week one.