I feel the Kenyan in me

I am a runner people! I never thought I would say that. Ever.

I simply did not understand why sane people would choose to run. Bike, hike, swim, anything else made sense. But run? Not for this girl. Even though I come from a country known for its marathon runners. Even though I take out my huge Kenyan flag and wave it at the Boston Marathon. Even though I weep every time a Kenyan wins and they play the national anthem. I could not imagine running myself.

Then last January (2012), I decided to train for a 5K. Why? I simply do not know. Must have been a low sugar moment, and it seemed like a good idea. But then, I proceeded to tell everyone I knew that I was going to do it. Why oh why did I do that? Why could this "brilliant" idea not go the way of all resolutions, and fade away into that dark night? But I was committed. So now what?

First I needed a plan. I'm a planner when it comes to these kinds of things, so I spent some time online and looked at various Couch to 5K plans, and finally settled on this one. It was a free podcast, so what did I have to lose right? Now I'm no couch potato, so figured the first couple of weeks would be a breeze. Nope. Turns out you use different muscles for running than walking. And I was running at a pace slower than I could walk. Why was I doing this again?

Still, I decided to stick with it, and by week 2 was tired of the podcast - the same old music - so paid for the app version of the program. I could spend a couple of bucks to listen to my music surely. And I loved it. I got the coaching, plus a variety of music each workout.

Since things were going so well, I decided to sign up for and run a 5K in February. This after never running anywhere but on a treadmill. And you might recall that I started running for the first time ever less than a month prior. I do things like this. You can read about that event here.

Then started what I call my ouchy phase. In my case, the ouch was caused by painful shin splints. I tried everything - Rested/Iced/Compress/Elevate/Stretch. Nothing seemed to work. A few minutes after I started running, I was in so much pain I could not continue. Then I discovered this idea, and you know what? It actually works. I do it now before every run. I was on the road to recovery. I gave myself lots of rest, and decided to try to ease back into running. But I had lost momentum, and with it all motivation.

Fast forward to this year (2013). The goal of running a 5K was back. What is it about January that does this to me? Again, I made this public proclamation, and then decided to not run the entire month of January. Yes. I do things like this. But you know what? The break, both physical and mental, was good for me. I started back up in February with Week 4 of the plan, and last week completed my 5K101 training. I took my time and repeated weeks as needed. Also before big jumps in running times, I slowly built my confidence by doing the supplemental training weeks. For two weeks now I have been running for stretches of 30 minutes at a time. For the first time in my life.

What now? I continue to run three time a week, and am working on increasing my pace and distance, and transitioning to outdoor runs. And training for my next 5K race.

It has been a tough journey. There are days I do not feel like I can run. Or even want to run. And I am reminded of this: It is never a question of can you, but will you? And I lace up. And do it. Last week, I was heard to whimper, "I can do it, I can do it" to myself. And I did. When I don't feel I can take another step, I reach deep down and feel the Kenyan in me. I have experienced that elusive thing called a runner's high, and holy moly it is so good.

I do think that running is now a part of my life. I love the physical workout, and the mental clearing of the cache. It turns out that running is more mental than physical for me. Don't get me wrong, it is really tough physically too, but the harder part for me is the mental part. I have spent a lot of time with that gremlin in my head, and it has been illuminating. Yes, there are moments that I still feel like a hippo running to a watering hole, but there are entire stretches when I feel like a springbok. And that is what keeps me lacing up my shoes.