So my buddy Chris is into running and marathons and triathlons. He’s been trying for a while to convince me to run in a mini or half marathon with him.
Today I decided to humor the idea and see if my old decrepit knees can handle it.
I got about a mile down the road when I decided that running in 90 degree weather is stupid, so I started walking. Then I got sick of being outside in the heat. But since I’m not a quitter I didn’t turn around. I ran a little bit, then walked a little bit all the way to the end of the road and turned around. By now my shins reminded me why I hate running. Surprisingly my knees had not decided to explode yet.
The way back was a mix of running and walking. I’ve decided that if it weren’t so hot, and I could condition my shins into not screaming bloody murder after 3 or 4 blocks of running, I could probably do a mini-marathon given my current shape.
I’m still not happy with the shape I’m in, but I may have to face the fact that I’m not 18 and playing hockey three nights a week anymore and might never get back into the shape I’d really like to be in.
That said, since February I’ve lost 15 pounds, leaned up a bit, and started eating healthy. This is a pleasant change given the habits I’d developed the previous year or so. I figure a few days a week at Cardinal Fitness and maybe a day or two of running or roller blading for the next few months religiously and I’ll be in about as good of shape as I have the time for.
All in all I’m not ready to commit to a mini-marathon yet, but at least I know with a little work I could probably handle it without dying. Whether or not I ‘work’ or not remains to be seen.