I have a friend who has agreed to assist me in this quest. He prefers to remain nameless and anonymous. But, I have to give him some sort of moniker. I've been pondering nicknames. I toyed with Hulk, Drill Seargant, and Muscles. But, none seemed to really work. So, I asked him what nickname he wanted. At first he came back with Mastadon. I had to say "no" to that. His second choice..."Lars the Destroyer"... I suppose I can get on board with this. Go figure. Who knew he spent his youth playing dungeons and dragons with his friends on his Commodore 64?
Anyhoo... Lars agreed to help teach me to run. I know what you're thinking. It's just running. Everybody can run. There's a difference between "running" to the grocery store, which involves getting in your car; or running from a serial rapist, which involves engaging your "fight or flight" instincts; and running for pleasure. Hmm... I'm not sure "pleasure" is quite the right word... How about "Running for fitness"? Yes. Let's go with that because I think it will be a while before the words "pleasure" and "run" collide in the same sentence for me.
Oh Sorry... back to my point.
LD and I embarked on our first run yesterday. It was more like a slog... er... Jog. We walked for .25 miles; jogged for .5 miles and walked .25 miles. There were moments when I thought I might die. I didn't. There were moments when I thought WTH was I thinking? And, there was at least one moment, when I almost keeled over and prayed for the sweet sweet release of death. But, it was just my gag reflex talking.
It's important to note that I consider LD to be one of my dearest friends on most days. But, he was adamant that BFF status would be left at the door and his Destroyer persona would appear. He kinda lies because he was possibly the best trainer I've ever encountered. And, he wasn't mean at all. I wanted him to push me farther than I would ever push myself. And, he did. I knew that he would not put up with any of my whiny crap. And, he didn't. But, mostly that's because I was too busy wheezing to complain. And, I was really hoping to learn proper form and technique, which I know absolutely nothing about. Mission accomplished.
In fact, I only wanted to trip him a couple of times when he was coaxing me up this hill or that (by hill I mean maybe a 3% incline which lasted no more than 20 yards. But, hey this is my story, and I'm going with hill. You're lucky I didn't call it a mountain cuz that's what it felt like). This afternoon my thighs are starting to burn and I'm hating on Lars the Destroyer just a little bit. But, mostly I'm grateful that he's willing to invest the time and energy in my success.
He's been a good sport all the way around. I've been pontificating to him about my fears about for days. Yesterday, he finally said that I could piggy back on his motivation to a point, but then I was going to have to find it within myself. Tough Love. I love it. You know you really have to pick someone who's not a relative or spouse to prod you on this way. A husband, wife, mother, father, brother, sister etc... could not get away with saying these kinds of things without causing a riff. I can walk away and be pissed at LD and he won't be worried whether or not I might choke him in his sleep or poison his dinner. (Not that I would EVER do any of those things to anyone...)
I've given what he said some thought. I really don't think it was (or is) a lack of motivation. It's more like fear of failure. Or maybe, it's just me trying to give myself an "out". I generally quit or just plain never embark on things that I can't be good at. I never really believed I could do this. I can point to countless resolutions to complete a 5K that were abandoned after half-hearted attempts. Now that Lars is on board. I don't have a choice but to be successful. He sent me a run schedule for the next six months. But, something else has changed. We started our journey about two weeks later than I intended because I came down with a horrible case of bronchitis. This would have been my perfect "out". I could have easily just never brought it up again...But, I kept telling him that I wasn't giving up and when we all finally agreed that I was well enough to give it a shot, I did. That's serious progress. It's the internal stuff that keeps us from achieving the success we really want.
In other News
No weight loss this week. That's ok. Still holding steady. I'm off to walk ever so slowly on a treadmill and bang out a back and biceps workout.Cheers!
Margar The Willing.
You're so funny. Go Margar!! I can't run either. I have tried to teach myself and got up to where I could run 3 miles, then that became enough for me and I hated it most of the time when I was doing it. You can do this! It does take time, so don't give up. You will see improvement. Make sure you put in some ass-kicking music on the iPod to give you some extra kick at just the right time. My advice: When you catch your second wind after about 25 minutes, it's time for Michael Jackson Working Day and Night..... Then you can go another 25 minutes. Love you! Keep it up.
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