In February of this year, my treadmill broke. I felt I had no option but to begin outdoor running.
The day before my 62nd birthday, I ran my first 10K (April 7, 2015) with my running group at Elk Lake Park (I'm in the back). And I've entered in my first 5K event in May.
I am very grateful to Eric Orten for his book! I'm working out now of the slant board and just started with the Fitball.
Mara :)
Comments
WAHOO! Back home from Oak Bay 5K. Reached my goal and then some by finishing in 31:36 net time (came in 33rd in all age divisions and both genders with an entry of 59). After finishing my friend Richard and I cheered on the finishers of the 10K and Half Marathon. The ELITE runners were so inspiring. The effortless way they moved, and their speed...WOW! There's another 5K (The Goddess Run) on June 7 and can't resist entering. :)
Good to hear that the machine broke before you did! Welcome to Runner's Anonymous.
Hello Mara,
Fantastic post ,yes run outdoors much more invigorating challenging and enjoyable. Age well that's nothing ill be 53 this year and I'm running longer, more frequently and faster than i ever did thanks to Eric's philosophy, program and book.
Enjoy have fun
Frank
Hi Mara, my opinion concerning workout machines is:
running outdoors=freedom !
running indoors=torture !
So I can really relate to Lori's message about letting nature be my gym. Saturday, my gym consisted in trying to mow our lawn which had reached one foot high ! Yikes !
It's great that you are starting with the strength workouts before starting the program. In my eagerness to start it, I put off starting the strength workouts til after starting phase 2, and only then because the icy roads kept me from running. But I really regret this because during my first semi this April, I really felt that my major weakness was upper body strength. So now I'm really focusing on strength. Watch out for those fitball lunges ! They are nasty !
On a more serious note, it's a very bad idea to count on running (or any other form of exercise) in order to lose weight. Indeed, inevitably you will associate running with negative feelings such as guilt. This is a shame. I really wish for you that running be only associated with feelings of joy, freedom and happiness. A much better approach to weight loss is to ask yourself, every time you eat something "Am I hungry ? How hungry am I, on a scale of 1 to 10 ?" And put off eating until you reach that nice confortable hunger level (about 6 for me.). Never eat in anticipation, because you are afraid of being hungry later on. This simple exercise really helped me recover my natural feeling of hunger and discover that foods taste much much better when eaten when we are hungry. For me, this was a revolution, and it did allow me to lose about 5 kilos, before I started running at all.
Hi Robert: I'm finding it difficult to remember that...that more isn't better. It's difficult to take rest days - I think because I'm also using running to get down to my goal weight. If I don't exercise, I feel like my daily calories are too little and it leaves me hungry. Thank you for your advice and I will try to follow. A question...I came across an ad in Runner's for a ZERO RUNNER. Do you think this would be a good investment for cross training?
And if you follow Eric's principles, in my experience & I'm sure most people here, you will run injury free.
Strict form, variation, more isn't better, consistency & rest, will see you running strong & well for as long as you want.
Run free Mara
Carolyn: Thank you for your message. I haven't started Eric's foundation program but I am using the slant board and fitball. Need to find a track or clock it on my vehicle to run a test so I can begin Eric's program. Right now I'm running pretty much 7' then walk 1' and repeat x8. So looking forward to learning good running FORM and getting healthier as I continue to age. End of May is my very first event...a 5K.
Thanks again Carolynn for sharing your passion for running.