Back to Zero: Run/Walk

I chose UIUC. It just felt right, I made a great connection with the faculty, and it's 12K cheaper than Madison.

And then there's the cute boy.

So far, so good with the running. Prior to this week, I had not been able to break the 30 minute threshold (yes, I know, this is pathetic). I was torn between wanting to push harder, fear of hurting myself again, and a lack of endurance. I know I'll get back to where I was eventually, but it is frustrating.

Last night, I went on a run with one of my friends. She had mentioned doing five miles, which I told her I couldn't do yet. She agreed to three, and we decided to meet at 6 PM at the Fleet Feet, Piper's Alley. When I arrived, she asked it I was okay with doing run/walk. I actually thought it would be a good idea. Perhaps I could run a little faster during the run portion, and then stretch my legs a bit during the walk portion. Plus, we would go for about 35 minutes, since that would give us four complete run/walk segments.

We ran for 8 minutes and then walked for one minute. I'm not gonna lie, I still felt pretty spent at the end. But I did actually make it to the end. And that's important. I didn't need to walk it in, I didn't need to pause except during the one-minute walks. I finished! Progress, people, progress.

At this point, I definitely do not think I will be doing a full marathon this year. With all of the turmoil and whatnot, I think I need to work on building up my strength and stamina, so I can be a better, more efficient runner. Looking back on the past few months, it was pretty clear to me that I had some major form issues, coupled with a lot of training. Both of those things will get you eventually and I'm lucky something worse didn't happen. I don't want it to happen again, so rather than rush back into training for a full marathon (I mean, jeez, I couldn't even train for a half marathon, and fall marathon training starts in two months), I'm going to do half marathons this summer.

Plus, since I'll be in the Champaign-Urbana area for school starting at the end of August, I might train for the Illinois Marathon, which is next April or May. I won't have to travel for it, which means I won't have to worry about hotels and plane tickets. These are all good things for a soon-to-be broke grad student.