Rookie Runners - share pains and gains

Where o where has my energy gone?? I have really been lazy the last 2 weeks and the to top the laziness, the weather has not been kind to us, thus making me find more and more excuses to delay my training sessions. I really hope that someone, somewhere, will come and join me on this blog so that I have another reason to start my training again.

Starting off as a Rookie runner was my biggest achievement (other than giving birth to my 2 children) that I have ever had. It was tough in the beginning but as my fitness level improved the addiction set in. I will never forget my first half-marathon (for those who don't know - this is a 21,2Km run) I ever ran. I was constantly told, by my husband, that I was not yet ready to run this far, and, once again, being the Arien, went to prove him wrong. I had only been running for 1 year when I decided that the half-marathon would be a great challenge, thus the fear from my husband.

The start was great and all was fine untill I hit the 13Km mark, I felt as though my legs were made of lead, my chest had escaped through my head and my stomach lurched from tiredness. At that time I was running for a local club and a few members were running in the 'train' with me and urged me on. At 16Km I felt revived and continued 'solo' as the 'train' then left me and at the 18Km mark I desperately needed to release a build up of water. Knowing that if I left the road I would not be able to run any further made a bold decision to throw water all over my lower half and release the water as I ran. This was so embarrasing yet so funny and it stuck with me and all my friends for a very long time. However, to prove to all and sundry, I completed the half-marathon in a great time of just under 2 hours proving that the mind is a great vehicle when you become a rookie runner!!!!

Rookie Runners - share pains and gains

Well, wherever you are, whatever your age or how ever fit you are, you are at the right place to get information about becoming a good road runner. The questions we always ask ourselves once we have decided to start this journey of running vary from:- ' Isn't it a boring sport' - 'I'm not fit enough' - Where will I run' etc etc etc. Let me put all of these negative questions out of your head and decide that we want to become Rookie Runners to enable us to run smarter and better.

To start off with, let me ensure you that the pains of starting to run, will be all worth the while in just 3 months from your first 'baby steps' you give on this fantastic journey. Please, let us be clear about these 'pains' I talk about. They are not physical pains but mental and emotional pains because we are not supposed to have physical pains to the degree where we now want to stop running before we really got started. So lets look at the first steps to becoming a 'rookie runner'.

I am sure that you have already got all your running gear i.e. shoes, comfortable clothing, MP3/Ipod player for good music as we run, water bottle (very important to remember - for every 10minutes we run, we need to take in 250ml of water) good sunglassed and a running hat!
Now that we are all geared up, lets get started. We will take this one day at a time sharing all our pains and gains as rookie runners.

The first day you will walk for 30 minutes only!!! Get out in the fresh are and start on this magnificent journey in becoming a great Rookie Runner!!!!