Running. UGH!

Craig roped me into competing in this (admittedly) pretty cool competition thing in Oregon where you run a 3.5ish mile circuit through all sorts of crazy obstacles, like rappelling down a rock wall, running through waist-deep water and over logs, climbing up a cargo net, leaping over fire, crawling through a mud pit with barbed wire overhead, and other such tortuous activities. Plus they give you a viking hat with horns and fur, and a huge beer afterwards.

Now if you know me, you’ll also know that I’m the LEAST athletic person ever to have existed. There are very few things that I’d rather do LESS that get involved in any kind of athletic adventure. So I’m not sure why I’m doing this, but it takes place 2 weeks after the wedding, so at least having this goal will force me to get in shape before the wedding.

So I started running. And I SUCK at it. Quite a lot. The circuit around our block is .58 miles. 2 of the straights are uphill, the other 2 downhill. The long uphill and downhill sections are not very steep, but the short ones are. I’ve developed a rhythm that I’m working on. And hating. I can run up the long uphill, and down both of the downhills, and then walk up the short uphill section. I did that for the first time yesterday. Once. And I almost died. I did the run at 5am, and my lungs still hurt at 9. True story. Today, I did that, then walked up the long uphill section and ran both of the downhills and walked the 1 steep uphill back to my house. My legs hurt a lot after yesterday (how sad), but my lungs don’t hurt anymore, so I’m 2 hours ahead of yesterday.

Anyway, I’m working on the long, hard road to getting into shape. The plan is to be able to run 5 miles (or 10 laps) without needing to walk too much. Then I’ll start training on some of the hillier trails, or running into the more developed part of the neighborhood and doing a mostly uphill circuit and ending with a downhill jog. We’ll see. I may keep you updated if the progress isn’t too embarrassing. Regardless, now the internet knows just how out of shape I am.