I have always hated running! Except to play sports. Then it is fun. But just running always sucked the big one for me. Even when I was younger and lighter and in really good shape, it was my bane. Whenever I would run, not playing sports, I would always get shin splints. And if you never had them, they relly suck. So I just avoided running for the sake of running. About 8 or nine years ago, my wife decided she wanted to start running. And I planned to do it with her. Just before she started, I tore the plantar fascia in my foot playing basketball. It was a bad one where I thought I could actually hear the rip. I was in big pain. Trying to even walk with her was not happening. After a dozen or slow steps, it became a painful and debilitating limp. My wife kept on with her training and I kept on with my recovery. Two years later, my foot is recovered. Yes, TWO YEARS! By then, wifee was between half marathon and marathon distances and started on her trail running. By then, she had just completed an Xterra half marathon in the mountains. Now, I figure I can't run with her anyway, so never mind. We have always been ok with the other person doing their own things. Until this year. Wifee realized that she wanted her significant other to do the stuff that she likes with her. So my running journey begins anew in June of this year. As I decide to start running, or as she decided I was going to start running, she gave me the book that started it all for her. The book was The Run Walk Run Method. And Jeff Galloway's website is Jeff Galloway | The official site of Run-Walk-Run. He is a former Olympian and has run over 100 marathons. He espouses a couple of things. Staying power over speed (my words not his) Small steps Run walk run intervals So I bought one of his interval timer apps to do the run walk run method. It has worked for me. In fact, earlier this year wifee decided on a lark to sign up for an Ultra race kind of at the last minute. An ultra race is anything longer than a marathon. This particular one was casual. You got to choose you own distance. Some of her running buddies did it too. One did two marathons. One the first day, the second then next day. One did 100 miles! Wifee decided to do 50K which is a little over 30 miles. She used my success with the run walk method to do it. You see, she has not done an ultra in over two years and she did not train for this one. So she used small intervals like I do. And finished the 50K doing 30 seconds of running with 30 seconds of walking. The other thing is to run with small steps. I always teased her about looking like a little Japanese lady wearing a kimono running. The legs do not open up very much and it looks almost more like a shuffle than a full run. And to go fast, the stride length doesn't increase. The number of kimono steps increase. So now I run like a lady in a kimono. But hey, I rock it! He also mentioned that a lot of hardcore runners scoff at the run walk run method. But he also mentioned that a lot of people that do the RWR method often finish a race faster than someone who just ran it. And often finish fresher and without injury or pain. Kind of like the rabbit vs the turtle. Start slow and when you walk, you recover and refresh. So by then second half, you are maybe even fresher. I learned a phrase from my wife. Negative splits. I do notice that when I run now, I almost always finish stronger than I started and the second half of my run is significantly faster than the first. I even have gas for a final kick if I choose. But that is not the important thing to me. What is important is no shin splints. No pain. I might feel tired in my legs. But it doesn't last. But painfree is the thing. Because there is no pain, I am ok with going again. And I guess that is the key. Now I feel like I can do this and have been consistent with my running. Yes, I still have a long way to go to catch up to my wife. I might never catch her up. And that's ok. I do not sign up for any races. She used to sign up for every one. I don't want to run a marathon. Although at some point, if I feel ready, I might do one just to try and accomplish it. My goal is to get to the point where I can run with her and her running buddies on a "short" run. Every Tuesday, they do a 7-8 mile run. I forget exactly how long. Getting there. My longest run so far has been seven miles. But I run really slow. Old man in a kimono slow. So as my endurance and speed improves some more, I will join them. For now though, I am on the trail with her once or twice a week. So slowly but surely.
Ran cross country in high school and, yes; shin splints suck. Going to look into this method... Maybe this old man can get back into shape!
So far, I have slowly dropped 20-25 pounds. And if I, someone who has always hated running, can do it you can do it.
That sounds like the way to do it for us older types , but I'm looking at knee surgerys soon , walking is a chore for me on most days .
I have always loved distance running. I was very good at it even for a short guy. I liked the hills because that is where I could bury those long-legged sprinters. I had to stop running in Afghanistan 2002 when contracted for work there as simply was impossible, that contract led to other contracts in other bad/harsh/austere locations and... So, here we are stateside, soon to be my 4th year back anniversary and I haven't started. It's a bit different now as I am older (65), fatter, and I truly wonder if I started running again if I would collapse somewhere out in the woods - I mean - it's not like a doctor can tell you, in truth, you have a problem unless they specifically look for it. I don't know, maybe that's just an excuse...
