I always said my biggest "thing" was sailing and skiing and mountain biking, but I would never mention running. I have been running for some time, but it was always just an efficient way to lose weight or not to gain additional weight. I sort of enjoyed it but I was always happy when my run was over.
Things I hated about running:
- I couldn't breathe.
- I would get "side stiches" almost everytime I went running.
- I was so slow compared to the other runners.
- I couldn't run uphill, it was so hard and demanding.
My running revolution began in May 2009, I flew in the New York City and met my new room mate. She told me she was going to run the J. P. Morgan Challenge together with her company. OK, I said, why not, I started running with her. The race was 3.5 miles, I was afraid about my ability to run the distance. Especially the hilly parts of Central Park were scary.
For the first time ever I tried to change the way I was running. When I realized that I was able to do the distance, I pushed myself to go faster. I sort of figured out that perhaps I should also try to increase the distance of some of my runs. At that moment everything I did was only about intuition, motivation to push myself little harder and the idea of the race ahead.
And than the race came. It was great experience, running around Central Park with other 15 thousand people. We did pretty good, one of the best times from my room mate's company. It felt quite easy, I knew I could do better, but I was there to help my room mate finish as fast as possible she could do. After the race I realized that it's over and I needed to set new goal to stay motivated ... and that was when the thought of doing a half marathon started to creep in.
Stay tuned for more about my training for my first half marathon : August 16, 2009 - NYC Half Marathon it will be!
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