In one of my previous posts I gave you my own and very personal 15 reasons why I do jogging. After a year I still do it. I even bought the real jogging shoes and for the first time in my life I feel like a quasi professional runner. OK, far from quasi professional but still fairly determined and stick to the routine.
Not that I needed a motivation. Unlikely most of the people I have no problem with running in every possible weather (I even enjoy gloomy, rainy mornings with +5C although still prefer dry and sunny ones). I know, I know, sounds incredible but it is the truth. I think that the main reason for that is related with long routine, good reasons attached to this activity and experiencing long term results of healthy lifestyle. So after four years from my first trip to Lapland which was the trigger for my jogging I still run at least 3 times a week.
Old and new running shoes
My 16th reason to do jogging
There is however my new reason on board: I decided to run a half marathon. Yes! I have about 100 days for a training to complete 21 km long run. Although I have relatively good general condition there are several important differences if you consider a long run. I decided to use a mobile application called RunKeeper to record my runs and to control the training. It is pretty straightforward: there are 4 runs every week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday), of which 3 are relatively light and easy (6 – 8 km), and one long (starting from 13 km up to 19 km). But it’s not only about the distance and time: the application gives you additional indications on training. It organizes short sprint runs (up to 2 minutes) combined with slower ones (also 2 minutes). A nice lady in my headphones says when I should run faster and also gives some useful updates regarding average speed, pace, time and distance. All I need to do is follow her instruction. Which obviously is easier said than done!
As an average long run (more than 10 km or 1h 30min, depending what’s first) burns about 1500 calories I found myself exhausted after first few long runs. I ate at least a double amount of my normal daily food and felt wracked for next 24h. Fortunately, all long runs are on Saturday to leave room for getting better before Monday. Apparently there is still A LOT to get better at. And I hope to bring you some news to share how the training goes.
I would love to hear your stories on how do you deal with regular physical exercises, whether you prefer bicycle, swimming or running and how do you deal with everyday routine. Please, write in comments what’s your story with jogging.
Guess what? I not only completed a half marathon. I have also completed a full marathon!
