If you've seen the movie Forest Gump, I'm sure you remember the scene where he's getting picked on while walking home from school. He starts to run and his braces fall off. In case you need a refresher:
Just over a week ago, I made the decision to start running. This isn't the first time I've made this decision. However, this is the first time I did something about it. Thursday night my husband and I bought our first pair of running shoes. (I also needed regular sneakers, so I picked up a pair of those as well.)
Friday evening we started our journey. This is our starting plan: walking at least 1 mile for the first week, just to get used to do some form of exercise regularly. Week 2 we will add at least 1 minute of running during that mile. Once we've learned to run a little while walking, we'll keep adding to that in the weeks/days to come. Until we can run a full 3 miles (or 5K). At some point during my weeks of training, I will start doing a Couch to 5K-type running program (I have two apps on my iPod Touch - Get Running, which is the Couch to 5K app; and RunKeeper, which has similar plans, plus I can make custom plans).
Slow and steady wins the race...that's what we've been taught. And, in the case of starting a running program, slow and steady is the way to go to help you start and maintain a program and help prevent injury.
Just for fun, here's a humorous clip about the Tortoise and the Hare:
Last night, while I was trying to fall asleep, I thought to myself that I could just start running today. I walked 2 miles yesterday! If I can walk 2 miles, I can certainly start running. Well, I decided that wasn't the way to go. My original plan was to start out walking 1 mile for a week. If I change it to running right away, I may discourage myself by starting too fast and causing an injury or overexerting myself to the point that I don't want to do it anymore. So, I'm sticking with my original plan - walk 1 mile, or more, for the first week, then add running the second week, with more running the following weeks. After all, slow and steady does win in the long run! No pun intended there, :)
