I recently started running, at least in a regular way. This has not been easy. Last year I tried to do it but was injured since a cycling trip and every time I ran my knee hurt a lot. I guess the years behind the computer finally kicked in. I thought that I couldn't let that happen to me. I remember watching people struggling to run one small block or catching their breathe after walking up a few flights of stairs. At the time I thought "ahh...that's sad".
Ten years after I was going exactly in that direction and that was hard to take in. Somehow I thought that all those years spent running around, kicking a ball, would never end. The truth is that it's amazing how fast physical condition deteriorates.
I believe the hardest bit for me was to start almost from scratch. I was getting injured since I was trying to run 4 km in 19 minutes. I was going as fast as I could. For me that was doable and it didn't seem wrong. That was how I remembered running was all about. Of course that didn't work. My knees will start suffering from and old injury and I was doing everything but improve.
Finally, I brought patience into the equation (and a training book). I started a well designed running program. I started running for about 10 minutes at a very slow pace and spent time recovering before hitting the next run, even if I didn't feel I was getting tired or needed to recover at all. I made baby steps and slowly started to build up a base. Slowly I began adding time to the runs.
The next step for me was setting a goal so I am running a 10k race in August 31st. It would be my first race since I was in college I think and it should be fun.
I am training for that and this weekend I ran 12 km almost no problem and with no knee pain. I think it would be fairly easy to complete. Not so easy to compete though. I am still far from my objective which is to complete a marathon next December. I am not sure if I will be ready by then. I know today I can do a half marathon. Again, I am tempted to skip the baby steps.
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