The first time I can remember that I ran for time/speed/distance tracking was during my high school gym class sometime in the year 1989. Ahh, the 12 minute run….. I remember those. I wish I *could* remember my pace when I was in high school, if I remember correctly I think I ran about 18-19 laps around our indoor high school gym track during the 12 minute time interval. If I could only remember the length of our track. My little faithful yellow Sony sports Walkman with a tape deck blaring Nine Inch Nails, Pretty Hate Machine through my headphones as I whizzed around the track. Those were the days! I remember time and time again I would almost puke after my runs and I would be red as a beet! I am glad my body is much better at handling the runs now!
After high school graduation, June 1992, I did not do much running, or much of anything physically productive until, sadly enough, I hit the rip old age of 30. My running commenced interestingly, shortly after I gave up smoking as a nasty habit. I rediscovered my hidden love for running when I moved to Berkeley California to begin my graduate career as a chemist. I had a difficult time adjusting to live as a graduate student at a world renown institution to study chemistry. To deal with the stress and depression that typically accompanied my day I would grab my CD player Walkman and run around the neighborhood for a mile or so. Just enough to burn off the nervous energy I had collected throughout my confused and lonely day as a new graduate student. I carried out this most sacred running ritual, usually in the early evenings right before sunset on and off , pretty intermittently, for the 3 more years I would survive as a graduate student at Berkeley. I left with my masters and brought my rediscovered running habit back to Chicago, my home town.
I have been running intermittently since I have been back home for the past 2 years. I have run 2 5k races finishing at about 33 min, more or less an 11 min/mi. However recently, I have been uncomfortable with my weight gain (which I acquired since being back in the Chicago area) so I decided to get rid of the extra me hanging around by kicking it up a notch with my running. I was coerced into signing up for my first 8k race, The Shamrock Shuffle. I have been training for this race religiously since January ‘09. I am following Hal Higdon’s Novice 8k training schedule for the Chicago Shamrock Shuffle. Since the commencement of my training, I have lost 6 pounds! Before I left Berkeley, I was a 130 pounds and right before my training program I weighed in at 158 pounds! Yuck, what a fatso I have become. But today I am happy that I weigh 152 pounds and the numbers on the scale are dropping! My running pace for a 5k is improving as well. I now almost run at a 10 min/mi 5k pace. I hope you enjoy reading my muses about running and watch me grow and improve.
Please leave your comments and/or opinions!!!
