Or should I say “How I’m trying to Become a Runner”? I don’t know. I wish I could tell you that I’ve been exercising all my life. That’s not the case. Growing up I never considered myself strong. I remember once in high school we were asked to run about 3 kms (1.8 miles) and I was the last one to complete them. I was in very bad shape. I would run out of breath very quickly.
Until recently, my adult life was no different, I would have a hard time on a bike or hiking. My life is very sedentary and I work all day in front of a computer.
The first time I ran a race was in May 2015. It was a 3.5 mile race, a coworker had shared during lunch that he wanted to run a 3.5 mile race and was asking for people to join him. I told him I would run with him. I remember immediately thinking “what did I just agree to do?”. If I remember correctly, I had about a month to train for the race and I started going to the gym to train 3 times a week. The day of the race came and I was very nervous about it, the crowd was so big that I lost sight of my coworker and I ran by myself. What I remember the most about that day is the happiness I experienced when I saw and crossed the finish line. To this day, I still remember that moment whenever I’m training.
After that race I signed up for 4 more races, but then I had to move cities, I moved from Albany, NY to Atlanta, GA and with that move I stopped running. I have moved cities twice again, and when I got to Tampa, FL. this year, I decided to start running again. I signed up for a Disney Run, a 5K and I completed it this April. Currently I’m training for my first 10K.
These are some things I’m doing to create the habit:
1) The thing that motivates me the most to run is signing up for a race. For me, knowing that I’ve already paid for an event is enough to get me to train for it. After I finished the 5K in April, I signed up for a 10K in November and I’ve already signed up for a 21K (half marathon) next year.
2) Getting home and immediately change into my gym clothes.
3) Use a habit tracking app. I’m currently using Habitify but I used Coach.me for many years.
4) Post on Facebook and Twitter after each training session, to keep myself accountable and let my friends know that I’m training for a 10K.
5) Save YouTube videos to the “Watch later” list and then watch them while I’m on the treadmill. This makes it less boring and I get to learn new things while training. I also watch Netflix videos or listen to music or podcasts.
iPhone/Apple Watch apps that I use to train:
Currently I’m starting week 8 of my 10K training plan and I can’t wait for the race.
Arabela Navarro 