Wait. Wait.
Let me show you the whole, unfiltered, unadulterated picture I made that header pic from:
That’s me, age roughly 40. That’s the last time I really tried to run.
I got it in my head that I could do this big, fat, juicy race they run every year in the Reno/Tahoe area. It’s called the Reno Tahoe Odyssey and it’s a ginormous relay race. It starts in Reno, goes AROUND Lake Tahoe, and back to Reno.
Something like 52 million miles.
Or so.
Anyway. I had a friend organizing a team and she invited me and I was so excited to be invited to something athletic that I was like. . .YES!
Didn’t work.
But I did try to run for a while. Eventually the pain was too much and I realized I wasn’t going to be able to do the race. Quitting was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
That was about five years ago.
I’ve lost 120 pounds since then.
I’ve been diagnosed with arthritis in my hips. (Which is why trying to run that far at that weight hurt THAT much.)
I haven’t run again, though. At. All.
I have this crazy-ass goal, you know. My mom died when she was 48 (of breast cancer.) I just turned 46 at the end of October. My BFG (that’s Big Fat Goal) is to finish an Iron Man when I’m 48.
It’s a 5 year plan. The first half was dedicated to getting healthy enough to start training. I’m there now. It’s time.
It’s time for me to start training for an Ironman.
Uh huh.
Forget Couch to Ironman. This is . . . i don’t even know. It’s 368 pounds, arthritic, miserable, nearly immobile to Ironman.
So, with a BFG that Big and Fat, the only thing to do is break it down. Not worry about the end, just do the next thing. Because if I think about training to finish an Ironman, I’ll panic and decide I just can’t do it.
I just need to take it one step at a time.
I’m a good swimmer. I’m not ready to even think about riding a bike.
So, step one is running.
My goal for 2018 is simple: I want to be able to run a 5K.
By run I mean: not walk. I’m not looking to be an Olympian here. I just want to be able to finish a 5K without limping in last–after they’re already cleaning up the course.
(That’s happened to me. It sucked.)
My action plan is simple, too.
I’m just going to start on day one of this Conservative Couch to 5K program after I get back from my residency on January 10 and follow it step-by-step for all seven months.
I belong to a gym with a beautiful indoor track, so the cold is no excuse. I even get to go in the hot tub after.
That’ll take me through to August 2018 or so. After that, I’ll start building up to a 10K, I guess. Then a half marathon. Then a marathon. But before I get ahead of myself, I’ll also start participating in 5Ks.