The second item on my Thirty Before 30 list is to “Run (not walk) a charity race to raise money for a cause that is important to me.” The race I’ve picked is the Big Bend Cares AIDS Walk and 5K Run scheduled for Sunday, October 2nd.
Big Bend Cares provides education and comprehensive support to people infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS. They are the only AIDS service organization in the Big Bend area, so their work is vital.
There are about 10 weeks until the race, so I chose the Couch to 5K 9-week training program to help prepare me for the big day. In theory, the C25K training program is designed to take you from a couch potato to a runner by blending intervals of walking and running for three miles (5K). Each week the running intervals increase until eventually you only run.
Obviously this is not me, because she isn't gasping for air. (Photo courtesy of Microsoft.)
I found a trail at a local park that is about 5K, and I have a hunch that this trail will also be the race route, so it’s a good place to practice. Yesterday, I drove over to the park to begin Week 1, Day 1 of training. I got to the park around 10:30 am, which was my first mistake. It was oppressively hot and the humidity was palpable, like a blanket of moisture. Lesson learned: only run in the early morning or late evening when the temperature is cooler.
Despite the suffocating heat, I was determined to begin training. I had decided to complete a 5K that day just to get a baseline time. I’m a good walker, but I’m not a runner AT ALL, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
Off I went, listening to the Week 1 podcast on my iPod. Things started out fine, although I was definitely exerting myself during the running intervals. By the fourth or fifth interval I really started to feel overheated and out of breath, and my side was beginning to cramp. Right about this time a girl ran by me who could have been the poster girl for Nike. She was obviously in great shape, as I could tell from her scant clothing, but sweat was pouring off her as well so I didn’t feel so bad. Everyone was suffering.
The good news is I finished. I did end up walking a great deal more than I ran, and walking slowly at that because I felt faint from the heat. I am hoping that as the weeks go by my running endurance will increase and it will get easier to control my breathing. Wednesday is my second day of training.
-An American Twenty Something
The Life of an American Twenty-Something 