Whale Runner

I participated in my first organized run/walk on Halloween in Bend. I walked the entire thing and finished last, at 55:36. The race was called "Run Like Hell" but I joked that I'd be "strolling" like hell. But even the moms with strollers passed me. There were a few times that I thought about busting into a jog, but I'm afraid of pain in my lower leg and I wasn't wearing my new running shoes. I did enjoy the walk and the after-party (and the after-nap).

I also felt motivated to do it some more. I'm planning to go to Bend for another race in April and I want to actually run it.

With this in mind, I headed to the gym on Monday to try the treadmill. I'm slow. And the leg pain is a problem. I did some walking at 3mph (20 minute mile) and some jogging at 5mph (12 minute mile). I was on the treadmill for 20 minutes and finished with some cycling.

The running was not comfortable, so I took time on Tuesday to go back to the running store to talk about my shoes. The guy there was much nicer than the associate at the Portland store. He didn't make me feel like I was too fat to take up running. He did make me buy yet another pair of shoes and showed me how to lace them to hopefully keep my toes from falling asleep.

I tried it again today. Intervals of 2 minutes of walking at 3.0 and 30 seconds of jogging at 4.5. My short term goal is to get to the point I can start a Couch to 5K program, which starts at 90 seconds of walking and 60 seconds of jogging. I think I'll be ready in just a couple of weeks if I keep up with it.

But here's the thing: my leg still hurts and my toes still fall asleep. I've googled the hell out of this, but probably will have to go back to the store on Monday to get more advice.