The woman who hates running is still running. I know. I’m shocked.
Confession: I am a chronic goal setter. People ask how I stay motivated and I look at them like they’re speaking Klingon. How could I not be motivated? There are so many mico-goals to fulfill! My husband is the king of chill. He can avoid setting a goal for anything for weeks and feel content with himself. It’s equally fascinating and annoying.
Anyway, my first goal was to finish a 5k without feeling exhausted. Done. Then I aimed to finish a half marathon without dying. Done. Now I’ve got a 10k coming up I really want to improve my time.
It’s not that I care about being fast. I’m not a competitive person. I want to improve my time so that I can be one of those people who actually loves running. Currently, I run because:
- I want to have a healthy heart and healthy lungs.
- I think my legs look prettier when they have got muscle tone.
- My inner chubby woman loves Krispy Kreme, sweet coffee drinks, wine, and Blow Pops. Without some form of exercise I’d have to roll everywhere.
- I like buying and wearing spandex…which would be problematic if I didn’t work out because I love eating Krispy Kreme, sweet coffee drinks, wine, and Blow Pops.
Notice, I don’t run because I love running. I don’t love running because I’m a slow ass runner. Alejandro thinks it’s funny that my body is prepared to run all day but I get bored during long runs and want to throw myself in front of a car because I’m bored to death—but I’m stranded in the middle of a park in the middle of nowhere so I have to run to get out before sunset.
The solution, of course, is to learn to run faster and be more efficient. That way I can cover long runs in less time, get the health benefits, feel like a sexy beast, and not get bored because I’ve been running for two hours just trying to finish 6 miles.
My first speed goal: 10k in 70 minutes by May. That’s about 11.5-minute miles or 6mph. I ran the first eight miles of the half marathon between 5.3-5.7 mph (rookie mistake, running on hype more than pacing myself) so I think my goal is reasonable. I guess I’ll see!
My first practice run will be the Fallen Heroes of Georgia race at Lake Lanier on March 15. Woot woot! Wish me luck!