THE NONE TO RUN PODCAST – Episode 22
“Running is for life. Long-term thinking is critical.”
FRIDAY FITNESS AND HEALTH. I have run most of my life. I am not competitive, nor fast. I did one half-marathon, and one marathon, several 5Ks and a 9K once, I think. I don’t keep all the t-shirts either. But I feel better – I feel like the best version of myself – the times in my life when I am running regularly.
When I ran the St George marathon, the downhill really hurt my right knee. I’d injured my left knee in a fall when I was training a few months before in NYC. And I think I babied that knee in the rest of my training and in the marathon. So, again, at the end of the actual marathon, it was my right knee that was a little sore. And the further I get from the marathon experience, the more my right knee bothers me.
With our move to UT, and our home in the mountains, I think I’ve only run the hills/mountains maybe 5 or 6 times. It just makes my knee grind.
I am feeling antsy to run! I signed up for a 5K – a Turkey Trot that my dad hosts every Thanksgiving. And, if I can get a doctor to give me a thumbs up on my knee, I want to start training for another marathon.
But, again, only if I can get a doctor to look at my knee and give me the go-ahead. Remember: Running is for life. Long-term thinking is critical.
“Running doesn’t have to hurt.”
Jeff Galloway, in teaching beginning-running decades ago discovered that most people have a bad memory of running. Maybe it’s a coach who punished you with running or whatever or maybe it was an injury you sustained because of running. But he created a way for all people to run, and for it to be a positive experience, the rest of their lives: the run walk run method.
And it looks exactly like that – you run and then you walk and then you run again.
And this works for new runners, but it also works for marathoners and ultra-marathoners.
“Without breaks, I could only go three miles, with difficulty. Using breaks, I’ve finished three marathons feeling strong.”
I think it will take a little bit of work, along the way, figuring out how long to walk and how long to run, as I improve and as I am careful with my knee. But I am really feeling excited about it at this point.
Here is the suggested schedule. I have about 11 weeks.
| WEEK | MON | TUES | WED | THURS | FRI | SAT |
| 1 | R-W-R 1 MILE | WALK | R-W-R 15 | WALK | R-W-R 15 | WALK |
| 2 | R-W-R 1 MILE | WALK | R-W-R 15 | WALK | R-W-R 15 | WALK |
| 3 | R-W-R 1.5 M | WALK | R-W-R 15-20 | WALK | R-W-R 15-20 | WALK |
| 4 | R-W-R 1.5 M | WALK | R-W-R 15-20 | WALK | R-W-R 15-20 | WALK |
| 5 | R-W-R 2 MILE | WALK | R-W-R 20 | WALK | R-W-R 20 | WALK |
| 6 | R-W-R 2 MILE | WALK | R-W-R 20 | WALK | R-W-R 20 | WALK |
| 7 | R-W-R 2.5 M | WALK | R-W-R 20-25 | WALK | R-W-R 20-25 | WALK |
| 8 | R-W-R 2.5 M | WALK | R-W-R 20-25 | WALK | R-W-R 20-25 | WALK |
| 9 | R-W-R 3 MILE | WALK | R-W-R 25-30 | WALK | R-W-R 25-30 | WALK |
| 10 | R-W-R 3 MILE | WALK | R-W-R 25-30 | WALK | R-W-R 25-30 | WALK |
| 11 | R-W-R 2 MILE | WALK | R-W-R 25-30 | WALK | R-W-R 25-30 | WALK |
I’m excited to run with you. Let’s do a 5k turkey trot together. Ily