Tuesday, February 22, 2011

My History with The Devil Part One: Running


Here's a little background story for you:

All through my life I had always thought of running as a disgusting habit that some people just couldn't seem to get rid of.  I thought it was a terrible way to work out.  Who wants to go from A to B by running?  Can't they take up a sport or dance or something to get exercise?!  I know I'm rambling and my thoughts are not justified, but it's true.

Well, when I was a sophomore in college, I really started to get in shape.  I would go to WVU Rec Center and take lots of zumba and pilates classes.  I was really enjoying the weight loss that came with it and started getting into the hang of working out.  I had this friend, we will call her L.  She loved to run.  She also went to zumba with me.  One day she says, "Maria, would you like to run a mile with me after zumba?"  "Sure, L!"  (Mostly just to make her happy, but also to see if I could do it).

Well, I went on that mile run and it was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.  It just confirmed all of my thoughts about the nasty habit.  It was hard, I couldn't go fast, and it made my legs, heart, and lungs hurt.

But... I really felt like I got a good workout.  I just as soon forgot about it.

I continued my zumba and pilates classes until BAM! Summer break.  I can no longer go to the Rec Center for free because I am not currently a students.  Well crap.

What choice did I have?  I had to try running.

I went to the rail trail every morning that summer in Morgantown, WV and ran.  I would only go about a mile a day.  I started by running a quarter of a mile, then walking a quarter of a mile.  I would do that, then turn around and do it again.  I eventually increased my distance to two miles.  Then I would run for a half mile, walk a half mile, run, walk, etc.  And by the end of the summer, I could run an entire mile without stopping to walk.  I wanted to die and it sucked, but I could do it.

Then school started again, I got busy, and I didn't run again for about 6 months.

Part Two is yet to come!

2 comments:

  1. Yay!!!! This gave me motivation to run this morning :o)

    Also, in your last post, I cracked up when your wrote "and friends, it was great." I figure you got a kick out of writing it, too.

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  2. also, I can't wait for your lasagna recipe! I made it for the first time a few weeks (or months) ago and just kinda made up my own thing. You are Italian, so your recipe has to be good.

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