“It’s 8:30pm and cold outside, my heart is pounding, my legs are burning, and my feet are moving without an end in sight. 1 mile, 2miles the time between each increasing with each step, and my head is filled with thoughts of 3 years prior when I use to be able to run 4 miles without skipping a beat.” It’s only after the run that I realize that I actually broke 3.1 miles in only 9 days. The decision to run came after a trip with my family to a local restaurant where I realized I had consumed more than 900 calories in one sitting and I had almost no physical activity to account for such a huge meal. Now for those of you that actually know me, you also know that I am in no way “big” by any stretch of the imagination, but 3 years ago I could have run a 5k in less than 18 Minutes and I had let myself digress to someone who would rather sit on my computer for hours and hours rather than exercise. To run again was an easy decision, in order to run I didn’t need any equipment nor did I need any formal training past the knowledge I had acquired 3 years prior when I was running 5 miles every other day. Let me begin with the first day:

(As a disclaimer I would like to say that “From the Couch to 5k” program by Cool Running says over and over again that you should not push yourself to reach 5k as quick as I did. In fact almost every trainer would have chastised me for the speed in which I made it to 5k due to having not run for over 3 years. Over the last 2 days I have been icing my calve muscle because I believe I have overdone it slightly, and therefore would once again recommend that you do not go from the couch to 5k in 9 days, it can be very dangerous for your body and can actually cause major problems down the line if you do not know exactly what you are doing)

Day 1 – Day 9: One of the biggest things I had going for me when I first started 2 weeks ago was a mindset that only comes from a veteran runner, the ability to tune out the pain and keep running until your physical body send the danger command. It was actually an interesting experience on the first day when I realized I couldn’t run anymore and had barely even scratched the surface of what I would have been able to do 3 years before. One big change I made this time around compared to 3 years before was the fact that I made the commitment to run every day instead of taking the “every other day” approach I had used back then. One of the key reasons for this decision was the fact that 3 years ago I was also lifting weights and other physical activities that kept my body in a constant state of exhaustion that would have hurt my running more than anything; had I run every day back then. This time around I was going to only run, or at least only run until I was able to get back into good shape and got my “Body Fat Percentage” back under 17%. (considered to be the average for someone that is “fit”)

One big thing I would like to point out is that I had run previously, and I still believe that the reason I was able to do everything I have done up to this point was because I have run before and there is still a part of me that remembers what it was like back then. From day 4 to day 7 I set the rule that I wanted to run for at least 12 minutes which ended up being a huge benefit for me when I ran for 15 minutes on the 7th day which allowed me to increase the amount of time I wanted to run on the 8th day.

On the 8th day I decided to run as far as my body would allow and so I set off with this goal in mind and kept running until I truly felt I couldn’t run anymore, which ended up putting me right at 2.7 miles with a time of 23 minutes. On the 8th day my mind was filled with questions regarding how far I was running, I ended up adding .5 miles to the run simply because I got close to the “end” of my run and looked ahead at a fork in the road, and decided to take the “long way back.” In hind site it was probably that decision that pushed my body farther than it needed to be pushed and ultimately caused me to have unneeded days of rest, but it did allow for day 9 to happen, the day I reached 5k once again!

The difference between a person who never runs and someone who can run 10 miles is their ability to control their own bodies, and almost nothing else. Sure you have to get in shape in order to run 10 miles at a time, but I have learned that if you are able to control your mind during a run you will be able to do more than you ever thought possible. I can remember when I was young there was a Reading Rainbow that interviewed a marathon runner who simply said that he can run 20+ miles because he is able to look past the pain and anything else around him and focus on the goal at hand. In order to get up out of our chairs and unhealthy lifestyles we must look ahead and set some goals and then set out to complete those goals no matter how hard it may be.

Day 10+ : Since running 5k I have had a few problems with the muscles in my legs which have caused me to either 1) rest a day when I felt I should be running or 2) Ended up not running more than I had to. I don’t regret going from my couch to a 5k in 9 days, in fact it has pushed me to get even better as time goes on, but I do believe over the next few weeks I will be in a constant fight with my own body as it tries to catch up to my strenuous workout I have thrust upon it

On my 11th day of running (yesterday) I was able to run 3miles but realized once I had stopped that my right foot was numb from a short supply of blood and was slightly nervous about the situation because my calve muscles have been in “recovery” for the last 3 days, but it ended up that my right shoe was tied a bit to tight cause an inadequate amount of blood to get to my foot by the end of the long run. If you would like to know more about how to make running and working out fun and an active part of your lifestyle just ask and I will be more than happy to help. Keep up your exercising and until next time, Chao!

P.S – Doing what I did can also be very bad for your heart, and can cause heart attacks.. once again: Don’t Do It!