Running 8k in Philly – AWESOME!

I had two thoughts when I received the invite to run an 8k race and speak at the Insulindependence Philadelphia Weekend: Cool! Holy crap! 8k? I better start training! 8k is just about 5 miles. Well outside of my comfort zone, but not so far outside that it felt unachievable. The Insulindependence group provided a training plan that looked realistic, and I started following it – to the letter – on day 1 of week 1. The Training Plan Run 20 minutes. Yikes. I haven’t done that for over a decade. I play basketball, and do some biking, and have experimented with some running (run 2 mins, walk 1, run 2, etc), but 20 minutes straight? Not going to be fun, but let’s go. I couldn’t show up in Philadelphia and not be able to do this. So I took it slow and steady, and worked through it. I thought back to my cycling training in 2012 and knew I could do it if I stuck with the plan. It took about three weeks before the running felt different. It felt … not easy, but not as hard. I noticed a difference, and it felt good to notice that difference. It was encouraging and motivating. Kick It Up a Notch I was still playing basketball – my favorite form of recreation – but I was doing the running just whenever it fit in. After basketball, in the evenings, sometimes instead of basketball. Just whenever. One Saturday I did my running right before playing basketball in order to hoop with my buddies and enjoy lunch with them afterward. It was a comp...
Source: Scott's Diabetes Blog - Category: Diabetes Authors: Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs