run for 30 minutes without stopping

Today DH and I graduated from walking to walking 5 minutes, running 30 seconds (6-7 reps, with stretching afterwards). It felt WONDERFUL! DH is so pleased and amazed at the progress he’s made.

We found that my pace and DH’s pace are quite different-DH runs much faster than I do. I still have a lot of my conditioning left from the last time I did this program, so the 30 seconds were almost too easy. DH challenged me to run at his pace to make up for it. It was a challenge, but it wasn’t -too difficult, so I may continue to do that (as long as nothing feels bad).

We’ll be taking it one day at a time for now. If DH feels okay tomorrow, then we might do a repeat of today. If anything is sore, then we’ll just go for a walk. I have the ‘official’ beginner’s program printed out and on the fridge, and we’ll use that as a general guide.

While grocery shopping (I got ingredients for my own chili recipe!) I struck up a conversation with the bagger and found out that he’s a runner. I mentioned that I was trying to get (back) into running and he offered me tips (none that I didn’t already know, alas) and encouragement. He was very sweet, and chose the best possible response among those he could have (the worst being “What’s a fat lady like you doing trying to run?!”). I was struck once again by how runners form a kind of community, and for the most part they’re great, supportive people.

I need some middle steps on the way to losing 75 pounds, running a 5k, and running a marathon. Ideally I would like to ‘be’ a runner, in that I will love running and have a really high weekly mileage, and have this be a lifetime habit. But if I listed that as the goal, at what point would I mark it as complete? I need goals that I can measure. So let’s start small. I expect to have this one done within 2 months.