Spartan112
10-21-2007, 11:02 AM
I am a total newbie to running so be patient and kind...I'm 38yo, about 6mos ago I was 288# and wayyyyyy out of shape when I was inspired to change my eating and exercise habits. I started at the gym mainly doing cardio through elliptical and stationary bike and a bit of circuit training. During the summer I got my old road bike back on the road and started riding on the weekends putting in 30-40mi rides at around 16mph. I've now dropped to 212# and I'm in the best shape of my life (sad as that is). A few weeks back a colleague mentioned the idea of doing a triathlon and at first I scoffed but the more I thought about it the more I like the idea. I already planned on completing my first cycling century next summer but a triathlon sounded very cool so I looke into it and figured a sprint might be doable. Thing is I was terrified of the run. I started trying to jog back in April but it hurt my knees too much. Last weekend it was too cold to bike so I went to the gym and decided to give running another try...it was amazing how easy it was compared to what it used to be. The most I had ever run at one time to that point had been 12minutes at a slow jog...last Sunday I ran for 40 minutes at 6.5mph. I realize that slow for most of the folks here but it was a huge accomplishment for me. Needless to say I was sore for the next few days and my inner thighs only let me do about 20minutes a few days later. This morning I got back up to 30 minutes (this is all treadmill running). I plan on at least one day of running next week being outdoors and I'd like to start training for a Dec. 1st 5k. I have no dreams of finishing quickly, just finishing. Sub-30 minutes would be fine by me. My plan right now is to do 3x30 minutes a week with at least one session being outdoors (A nice local dirt run is available). I figured I'd abstain from running altogether the week of the 5k and then go for it. Any thoughts?