Running

I have decided that this year I want to become a runner. I have run now for a couple years, run walk , run walk, etc.  and I did better when I was running on the treadmill at the gym seemed like I could run farther before walking. 

At any rate, I just want to run, and run well. I have no desire to run a marathon, make a certain time on my run or race against anyone, or even run fast. ( I had 5 kids, running fast doesn’t go well nor does jumping on the trampoline with my kids, but sometimes I do it anyway! ...enough said. ) 

My only goal this year is to run 30 minutes straight without stopping and to run down the path on independence, from start to finish. This road is the nicest road in Zambia. The president’s house is on it. When we first moved here I would explain to people who had never been to America that the roads there are all like Independence. Paved roads. WOW, is what people would say.  So I was talking with a customer at work one day and they mentioned the path/ sidewalk that runs down the middle and so I decided to give it a try. It is very near our house so I have been going there a few times a week after I drop the kids off at school. I park the car on the dirt road next to it and then start. 

I am realizing though that there is a fine line between passing out, pigging out and throwing up. If I don’t eat anything before I workout/run then I feel like I am about to pass out. If I eat something very small, like a banana then after I run I am so hungry I feel like pigging out- like eating 4 or 5 pancakes! 

But if I eat what I thought was a moderate breakfast an hour before running, - toast and a scrambled egg, then I feel like throwing up. Seems like I Can’t win. So I guess I will go with the modified version of the pigging out.???

I NEVER liked running when I was a kid. I wasn’t good at it, I didn’t enjoy it, it was the thing that you had to do in PE class to make it through and the thing I dreaded all the way until the next time we had to do it.  I think I just resigned myself to it. Running and pull ups I would never be able to do. Well when I started getting in shape 3 years ago after all the babies had been born / carried around / ridden on my back in a chitenge, I decided it was time to take control. And I found out I didn’t dread exercise. I actually surprised myself with how much I enjoyed it. 

So, now I want to surprise myself with enjoying running! 

I was telling Sarah I don’t like running. 

But I like how I feel after I run. 

And,  I like how I feel while I am running... 

“soo, why don’t you like running?”

I think its the whole breathing thing. I don’t feel like I can breathe well and get out of breathe to quickly.

So my goal for the year is to run this path all the way down Independence.  

The path way is about 3.6 k one way. (yes I clocked it on my car) 

SO I guess ideally if I could run there and back I would have completed  7.2 K.  

The challenge running outside in Zambia is the roads are uneven, there are buses and cars driving everywhere on those roads and there are people walking, EVERYWHERE.  

And I realized that every time I run past someone, or someone passes me, I get a bit flustered, I can feel my heart rate rise, my breathing get shorter, and I get nervous, which really doesn’t work out too well when there are people everywhere. 

The first week I started on this path I didn’t realize how many people walk on it. And how many projects there are going on, on it. I think I passed by about 100 people one day. There was a construction crew working on the lines, then there was the gardening crew, then there were the people commuting to work on foot and bicycle. This week in the mix I passed  2 military men carrying their guns walking down the path, and a homeless man. 

Then even though its a path, it is a bit of an ‘all terrain’ path. I didn’t realize how uneven the pavement is, how many holes on it, roots poking through, etc. 

So I guess the point is its hard enough to run just to run and then to figure out and deal with all these other factors makes it an added challenge.  So, if I am up for the challenge I will overcome my fears of people watching and commenting when I am running, (They just are, so I have to deal with it) and the bigger issue of worrying about what people think. and I will overcome this idea that I can’t be a runner.  And if I do those two things in just one year, I will have accomplished more than I ever even desired to accomplish. 

So I just need to put my earbuds in and strap my armband on and tune out the voices and people around me and get myself in the zone, the running zone...and I simply can not run without music. I Never will be able to. ;)