Running into the New Year

I know it is a little early to start the new year's resolution list, but I guess I like to get off to an early start. I have decided to start with one of the hardest activities for me, running. Generally speaking, I usually have beginners luck with most things I try. Most things except running. I suck at it. I think when I was in my mother's womb she gave me her size lungs for my body (she is six inches shorter on a good day).
Its not that I am in bad shape. I can dance for hours, lift weights, do pilates, and even some yoga, but running is my Achilles heel. Even as a very active kid, I was one of the last people to finish the running portion of the Physical Fitness Test. I have always wanted to be a runner. I sit in admiration of people who can just run forever and ever.

Last year as my girlfriend, Jody , embarked on her 2nd Marathon I thought to myself, "this could be the motivation I need." I may, possibly, kind of have a slight competitive streak. I began to do a training program designed by Girls Gotta Move for a 5K over the past summer. I began with high expectations which usually leads me to failure. After the first few weeks, my left foot began to erupt in pain during the course of a run. Within days I was unable to walk at all. My injury was a nasty little bugger called Plantar Fasciitis. Apparently it is a common injury with people who try to do too much too fast, and since I had probably pushed myself too hard my body responded with an injury that put me on my butt for most of the summer. I was not a happy camper. Fortunately, I found a chiropractor that helped with the injury, and with time and healing, I finally recovered.

Now, I am looking again at Jody going after another Marathon (she runs for her mum who died a few years ago from lymphoma). I figure now is the time to try and tackle this mountain... again. I have no desire to run a marathon, and right now my only goal is to run the 5K portion of the Salt Lake City Marathon in April. I have decided to do a nice, slow paced run, and work my way up to my goal of a 5K (3.1 miles). Secondary goal is to be able to do trail running next summer.

Why am I writing about this? I want to incorporate my running diary into my blog. My intention is to chart my progress and hopefully find some motivation to keep on going and try to improve.

First entry:
Treadmill 45 minutes - 3 minutes walk/2 minutes run w/warm up and cool down. Total miles- 2.5. Motivational running music today - New Order: Blue Monday, BLT