The Plan

In 2005, when I first began running, I was a junior in college, newly married and I had ZERO children! I have to admit, it was not hard to find time to fit in a workout. Kevin worked during the day and my classes didn’t usually begin until ten. Times were simpler back then. What a difference five years can make! We had one car so I would drop Kevin off at the office before I would head to school. I had to take him to work early so it made sense for running to come early as well. Like those who need their coffee, I needed my run before I felt ready for the day.

Flash Forward, 2010: Full time job, full time wife, full time mom, full time life! Isn’t there always an excuse? I know most of you feel the same way I do, “There aren’t enough hours in the day!” That’s the common lament right? Of course, there are hours in the day for what we WANT to fit in. Running in the morning isn’t a possibility in my life right now so I run after school. Perhaps times haven’t changed that much… Back then, I wanted to run. Now I want to run. And so I WILL fit it in.

I wanted to post the plan that worked for me before, and the plan that I am making my way back through again. The schedule was created by Budd Coates a four-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier. The goal of the program is to bring non-runners to the point where they can run three and half miles in ten weeks.

Before beginning the run/walk schedule start with eight days of walking to warm up your legs. The first half of the eight days, walk twenty minutes. The last four days walk for thirty minutes.

Then follow the schedule below:
Week 1 Run 2 min, walk 4 min. Repeat 5 times.
Week 2 Run 3 min, walk 3 min. Repeat 5 times
Week 3 Run 5 min, walk 2.5 min. Repeat 4 times
Week 4 Run 7 min, walk 3 min. Repeat 3 times
Week 5 Run 8 min, walk 2 min. Repeat 3 times
Week 6 Run 9 min, walk 2 min. Repeat 2 times then run 8 min.
Week 7 Run 9 min, walk 1 min. Repeat 3 times
Week 8 Run 13 min, walk 2 min. Repeat 2 times
Week 9 Run 14 min, walk 1 min. Repeat 2 times
Week 10Run 30 minutes

The Complete Book of Running Edited By: Amby Burfoot

I have learned from experience that if you feel tired after a week repeat that week. The worst mistake you can make is trying to do too much too quickly. I will start my third week of running this week and I am repeating Week 2 again. I have started running so many times over the past two years only to burn myself out. This time will be different. And it can be for you as well!

Andrew Kastor, coach of the ING New York City Marathon online training program says, “If you’re running, no matter how fast or slow, you’re a runner.” So come on. Get up. Lace up your shoes and run with me!

Copyright © 2010 Sarah Rebecca

Courage to Begin Again

When I tell people that I used to be a runner their eyebrows always raise incredulously and they say, “Really?” For two years I was a disciple of the sport logging nearly 36 miles a week and holding a 55 minute PR for a 10K (six miles). It was a huge deal for me. Up until that point, I had been overweight my whole life and had never really considered myself athletic. I will never forget the first day I ran the six mile distance, I wasn’t hurting and I wasn’t out of breath. I nearly cried I was so happy. All of the hard work I had put into running had paid off. I could finally call myself a runner.

At the end of 2006 Kevin and I got pregnant. The shock and excitement of the news didn’t last long because I miscarried only a few days later. The hurt over the miscarriage created a huge cloud in my life for months. I had just graduated from college and I was beginning my teaching career all while trying to deal with the emotions of losing my first child. Somehow, running just didn’t seem to have the same appeal as it had held before. I was too sad to enjoy even the good things in my life.

Around April of 2007, the pain over the loss seemed to subside some. I know the Lord did a work of restoration in my heart and I finally began to feel like myself again. So, I started run again. It felt amazing. I had gained some weight back and so I was slower and my mileage per week was not near what it had been, but I was out there and I felt more like myself again.

My best friend, who was also a runner, and I decided that it would be fun to train for a marathon together. So, at the end of the school year I began my training. In July, God blessed us when I became pregnant again! This time, my doctor and I decided that because of the miscarriage the first time, running during pregnancy was not an option.

Over the past two years I have started running only to quit again when life became to hectic and busy. It has been a struggle to learn how to balance my job, my family as well as running. But the sport is still in my blood. I don’t know why but I love it and I can’t get enough of it. Kevin once told me as I was struggling to begin again, just because I wasn’t running didn’t mean I was no longer a runner. He had no idea the impact that his encouragement had on me!

It is hard knowing where I once was and having to begin again. It’s painful and breathing is difficult again, like it was when I first tried running. But with each footfall against the soft gravel my world begins to focus again. I remember why I love running and I remember all that it has given me. But most importantly, I remember who it was that created running.

Colossians 1:16 “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers, or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.”

So, as the Lord fills me with the courage to begin the journey again, I will run for his glory and feel his pleasure while I do.

Copyright © 2010 Sarah Rebecca