Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Hit the Ground Walking

This morning, for the third Wednesday in a row, I got up at the crack of dawn -- and not just because a small furry creature was poking me in the butt. I've started training again, this year for the Berlin Marathon at the end of September. And let me tell you something: It is much, much easier to get out of shape than to get back into shape.

I don't like running in the winter. Used to be I didn't like running at all, so I consider this an improvement. In the winter, I like sleeping and eating cheese. These activities, it turns out, do not preclude going for a tempo run as soon as the temperature is above 40°F/10°C at 7 a.m.

So, I'm easing back into it. Two of the past three weeks I've run with my friend Jim, who has been entirely supportive of my emergence from hibernation. He has yet to mock me for my untoned (read: flabby) thighs and shortness of breath after only 2 miles at an easy (read: slow) pace. He's very kind, but he's also a coach, and I still have flashbacks to last summer when he stood at the top of the hill in Prospect Park yelling, "Is that as fast as you can go?!" as I ran toward him.

While I'm enjoying the Special Olympics treatment FOR NOW, I'm also really looking forward to running longer, faster, and stronger as the season progresses -- not to mention getting my hotlegs back!

5 comments:

montague said...

ugh. now i feel lazy. GO GILLIAN! RUN! RUN! RUN!

Elizabeth said...

Go Gillian! Go Jim! Even slow out-of-breath running in an inspiration to some of us couch potatoes out there.

Dawn said...

Berlin? Awesome!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on starting back up. I have to say that I simultaneously dread and look forward to re-starting the running in several weeks...maybe you can run with me and you'll feel like a super fast champ.

Anonymous said...

You are awesome and an inspiration to all of us, especially to me1