Sunday, December 22, 2013

RUNNING! (said in the manner of Charlie Sheen's WINNING!)

Three and a bit years ago I was getting fit. I was starting to run again for the third time and I was about to turn thirty.

My friends got me a 30th birthday present. It was entry to the midnattsloppet, and apparently it was so the 'tant' genes didn't take over. Midnattsloppet is a night time run in Sweden. It's 10km and has been held since 1982. 

I'd only ever managed to get myself up to running 5km. But the challenge seemed like a good idea. So I started training for the 10km. Only to get pregnant a few weeks later and have tiredness and nausea slow me down considerably.

I then had the misfortune of having my grandfather pass away when I was 7 weeks pregnant and I took myself back to Australia to see my family. During my visit, I wasn't training at all. I was eating as frequently as possible to stave off nausea and sleeping vast swathes of my life away.

Upon my return to Sweden, I was 11 weeks pregnant and the race was just two weeks away. I decided not to do it. I also found several weeks later that my hips do not enjoy pregnancy and were trying to move apart from each other, a painful condition known as  SPD

So running and I were not on friendly terms again until TWO was about two. I tried running a bit the summer after she turned one, but my hips were not too keen on the idea at all. 

Fast forward from that painful time to about March this year. TWO turned two and my friend Ana asked me to train with her. She had never run before and wanted to give it a try. We started doing the couch to 5k program and were most dedicated, even running in the snow one evening. 


I had used the Robert Ullrey podcasts previously to get to 5km, found here, and they were great again. But once we reached 5km, it was time to get something to get us all the way to 10km. Ana had her own programme going and I found Suz's 5 to 10km podcast and decided to give it a go. The combination of the 90s R&B and hip hop and Suz's high voice had me hooked. I used it, sang along at times, and found a new appreciation for TLC that I thought I'd never have. 

I ended up being inexplicably injured two weeks before the official race day, and thought perhaps I would have to miss out. But fate was on my side and I completed the race in 1 hour and 7 mins. Which is pretty close to my goal of doing it in an hour. 

Since then my running has dropped off considerably. And I think my mood had dropped off too. So in the last few weeks I have asked the boy to make me go running when it isn't pissing down with rain.

Today was an example of that kind of run. The rain was holding off, it was 7 degrees C and windy. But I went out running. I've been a bit stressed in the last couple of days and the running helped me distract myself from the stresses and worries. The cold sped me up and the endorphins made me a much happier person when I got home. 

Considering the weather predicted in the next few weeks (rain, rain and more rain), I've decided to join a local gym for the opportunity to run when it suits me and not the weather. I'm thinking after dagis drop off of TWO. The gym is between dagis and home, perfect way to get some running endorphins in me. I just hope that the treadmill doesn't bore me stupid. I guess I'm stuck listening to Suz's podcast while I run so I can keep entertained. 

Long story short? RUNNING! Love it.

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