{"id":374,"date":"2015-01-02T20:26:16","date_gmt":"2015-01-03T01:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/54.212.39.223\/?p=374"},"modified":"2015-02-15T18:30:12","modified_gmt":"2015-02-15T23:30:12","slug":"running-not-me-not-now-not-ever-how-i-got-started-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.barbettespitler.com\/?p=374","title":{"rendered":"Pt 1… Running?? NOT ME!! Not now…not ever!! (How I got started.. )"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jogging<\/a>

Jogging or Running… doesn’t matter! It’s about the GO!<\/p><\/div>\n

Running had never been of interest to me.\u00a0 It was too hard!\u00a0 I felt clumsy and awkward.\u00a0 I never felt light and free.\u00a0 Running was difficult!\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t run the distance from one telephone pole to another without feeling like my lungs would explode.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t regulate my breath and I was embarrassed that someone might actually see me trying to run and failing miserably! \u00a0 It seemed that running was so easy for others I didn\u2019t understand why it was so difficult for me.\u00a0 I could run short distances.\u00a0 I played softball and had no trouble running to base.\u00a0 Having said that, I acknowledge I was okay to run to the base but I was well aware I wasn\u2019t very fast doing it.\u00a0 My answer to that?\u00a0 Hit the ball hard and send it flying far enough that I could actually get to base.\u00a0 Hey!!\u00a0 It worked!\u00a0 I loved sports so I was willing to find a way to make the running tolerable.<\/p>\n

While in college, our volleyball team frequently did distance runs up to 3 miles.\u00a0 I was such an awkward teen I didn\u2019t share my feelings of awkwardness, or my fears of distance runs with my teammates. They didn\u2019t know how hard my heart pounded in my chest.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t know how frightened I was that I could literally die before we got back to the gym.\u00a0 My coach had no idea how I struggled to breathe.\u00a0 I kept it all to myself.\u00a0 And I struggled! \u00a0 In hindsight, I am absolutely positive every one of them would have supported me and cheered me to success.\u00a0 However, I continued to keep my struggle and my dislike of distance running to myself.<\/p>\n

All through my adulthood I continued to enjoy sports and being active.\u00a0 I loved step-aerobics, dance, ballet, and yoga.\u00a0 I became certified in Pilates and I loved teaching mat classes.\u00a0 I have the most fun with Zumba!\u00a0 P90X and other programs become fun for me.\u00a0 When I saw my sister-in-law, Mary, was fast walking a half marathon, I told her that sounded like fun and I\u2019d like to do it with her.\u00a0 The following year, September 2010, she and I trained for and fast walked the US Air Force Half Marathon.\u00a0 I loved the training walks.\u00a0 We did many of them together but we also had to do much of our training alone.\u00a0 We live over 10 miles apart so we kept track of each other and kept up the same pace, the same distances and took our training very seriously.\u00a0 She would keep an eye on the time and pace of our training walks.\u00a0 At times we walked so fast, I wanted to break into a jog.\u00a0 I resisted because I remembered. Besides, I was 49 years old.\u00a0 No one starts jogging at 49, right?<\/p>\n

One morning that summer, while on a 4 mile walk by myself, I was pushed for time.\u00a0 I was walking so fast I couldn\u2019t resist the urge to jog.\u00a0 I jogged about 20 yards and I immediately regretted it.\u00a0 My heart was pounding out of my chest, there was throbbing in my ears, my lungs were burning and I was hoping no one noticed!\u00a0 I slowed to a fast walk again.\u00a0 Soon, I thought I would try it again.\u00a0 No better feeling.\u00a0 No better outcome.\u00a0 Ugh!\u00a0 I was listening to my iPod and I laughed out loud when I realized I hadn\u2019t made it through one verse of the playing song.\u00a0 But\u2026 to my credit, I continued to try.\u00a0 All summer I worked at it.\u00a0 My goal was to get farther each attempt.\u00a0 I later learned those are called intervals.\u00a0 Sometimes I would set a landmark goal ahead, like a tree or a driveway, and attempt to reach it. Other times, I would plan to get to the end of the current song.\u00a0 Eventually, I was able to sustain a slow, comfortable jog for more than 20 yards!\u00a0 Then, I set my sights on jogging the length of our driveway.\u00a0 Then, it was to the end of the driveway AND back. My next big goal was to jog from beginning to end of a song.\u00a0 I eventually did it.\u00a0 I was so excited!!\u00a0 By the end of summer, I could jog to the road and back 10 times!\u00a0 I had no idea how long it was.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 I was learning to control my breathing, and jog longer distances.\u00a0 Together, Mary and I fast walked about 14 min miles.\u00a0 My slow jog was probably 13 min miles.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t care.\u00a0 I could finally jog without fear of exploding lungs!\u00a0 The funny part was I started to enjoy it.<\/p>\n

\"We<\/a>

We worked hard for this! We rocked it!<\/p><\/div>\n

Share this:<\/h3>