I have never been a runner. Even when I was young and thin and cute, I was never any good at running. But I tried to be.
My first two years of high school gym class consisted of trips to the track three days a week throughout most of the year. We had to run or walk a mile -- four laps total. I would push myself to run two laps straight before walking the rest.
Sometimes I'd get really masochistic and run the last half lap, too. This probably wasn't the best idea for me considering I was living in a house with toxic mold at the the time, which I later learned was the cause of my many respiratory infections and my current state of lung damage. But smart or not, I still did it.
Out of my adventures in high school gym class I learned two things: I hate running, and I can walk forever. I am a walker by nature and have stuck to this path for many, many years now.
So, you can imagine my thoughts when Paul tells me I have to run on the treadmill during my Wednesday training session. In the words of my tween daughter (which she stole from some tweeny TV show), "You say what now?"
My lungs are the bane of my existence. I started developing lasting breathing issues when I was a senior in high school. I wasn't overweight, just feeling the effects of the mold in my lungs. As I've aged, I've progressed into full-blown asthma. I'm afraid of the common cold because what makes my 4-year-old's nose run and sneeze for a few days hits me as bronchitis simply because my lungs are so inflamed and constricted most of the time. And the kicker is that I don't even feel it, so I don't even know something's wrong until I'm really sick. I used to be able to control my symptoms with inhalers, but had to switch to an oral controller med about a year or so ago after a month-long bout with pneumonia.
Needless to say, I was less than thrilled at the prospect of running. However, I decided to give it a try. I lost my controller meds when I moved down here a month ago, but have been doing OK off of it (I think because there's less pollution down here than there is in the NYC area). I wanted to test my body's tolerance to this kind of heavy exercise. Plus, this was my fourth session with Paul and already I'd been doing lots of moved I never thought I'd ever be doing. Why try not one more thing and see how it goes.
The task was complete three circuits of : a .13 mile run, a bunch of lunges, and a 10 jumping pull-ups on the rings. Like most of Paul's workouts, this one physically challenged me. Up to this point, he's been concentrating mostly on weighted movements. The only cardio has been on the rowing machine, which I love. But these kinds of movements really taxed my muscles and by then I was used to expecting that kind of strain on my body.
Adding in the running created a whole new kind of drain to my energy, which made completing the rest of the circuit all the more challenging. Moving air was my big issue. The running took a lot out of my lungs, so balancing catching my breath with performing the lunges and pull-ups made for an interesting time. As I began to struggle more, Paul dialed back the running to walking, which was a huge help.
After I was done with the circuit, I cooled down with a five-minute walk on the treadmill -- breathing went back to normal and I felt great. A lot of times after working with weights, my arms and legs are shaky. This time, my muscles were fatigued but not hurting or unsteady. And I completed the circuit in 12 minutes 1 second; Paul says anything under 15 is good.
One thing that kind of stuck with me, though, is a conversation Paul and I had while I was walking on the treadmill toward the end of the circuit. He noticed that I was pushing myself to run, just like I did in high school. He said I shouldn't try to compare my performance to anyone else's and to just concentrate on what works for my body. Some people just will never be runners, he said.
That's good advice, though I wasn't doing any comparisons inwardly or otherwise. I was trying to define my limitations and push myself past my comfort zone. I really have no great desire to be a runner; I think it's just an image of health and fitness that's stuck with me since the 80's, when yuppie jogging was all the craze. But for others, like my sister-in-law, running is an integral part of their daily routine; something they do for their bodies and their own happiness.
While that will never be me, I'm cool with the idea of different strokes for different folks when it comes to how they best work their bodies. As for running with Paul, I'll probably be doing it again in the future. But next time, he's going to let me know in advance so I do what I need to do to catch my breath.
See ya next time!
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