Observations in Running

Well...I'm a little ways into my "training" for From the Tubby Tummy to 10K adventure. I feel that this qualifies me as an expert (please insert hilarious laughter here) and I thought you might want to know what I've learned thus far.

* As I suspected, I was not capable of beginning the "novice" training program I found online. I could not run 2.5 miles on day one. I couldn't even run .5 miles. So creating my own pre-novice-novice program was definitely the way to go and I'm glad I did it.

* Running with a cold is brutal. Zero lung capacity. Runners in training run anyway.

* Don't add hills too soon. I have a few paths I like to run and one has hills. It was removed until I'm capable of breathing. Flatlands are challenging enough when you're new. (And when I say "it was removed," I mean I removed that option from my selection. I did not remove the hill itself. I am not allowed to play with earth movers.)

* Don't eat dinner before running. And if you do and think 1/2 hour is enough time for it to settle, it's not. Just trust me. P.A.I.N.

* You cannot possibly hydrate enough. Okay medically you probably can. But as a girl who doens't love water, I THOUGHT the amount I was drinking was enough and I found out it just was NOT. Someone (and if you are "someone" - please remind me who you are so I can give you credit!) told me that you actually need to start hydrating a week before an event because you can't possibly get there in even a day. Who knew?

* Improvement comes more quickly than expected. I pushed myself a little bit more every day and was shocked when I was running farther, longer, than I thought I would or could.

* Slow and steady. My method in running had always been to run hard when I ran...and then walk the rest. I'm learning that (duh!) if I just slow down, I can run longer.

* And here's the kicker that I do not even WANT to talk about on the el-blog-o but I wish someone would have told me, so I'm telling you! One morning I woke up (with the alarm) and my stomach was a MESS. A sick mess. I felt fine but it did not. I didn't even make it to work that day without stopping along the way. When I got to work (scared out of my mind about why my stomach was upset), I told my friend Sheryl what was happening. Her immediate reaction was "Are you running more?" Of course. Apparently that can mess with your digestive tract! WHO KNEW??? I googled it and it's true. Those very symptoms can come from lack of hydration and improper diet and (sob) too much caffeine. So all you thinking-about-it-runners out there - take note!