Women's Learn to Run at the Running Room - Week 2

In week one, we ran for one minute, and walked for two minutes. By the time we were done walking, I had fully caught my breath and was ready to take on the next minute.

Not so much in week two.

Week two, we ran for one minute and only walked for one minute and we did ten sets of these intervals. This was significantly harder for me. During these intervals, I was barely able to catch my breath before the beeper went off and I was running again.

What I really learned in this session was that I was running too quickly for my fitness level. I was unable to carry on a conversation while exercising. Matter of fact, I was unable to run with my mouth closed, as I was constantly sucking wind.

During my practice runs when I was not with the group, I slowed down my pace significantly and I was much more comfortable. I unearthed an interval watch that I bought a number of years ago and simply used that instead of trying to keep up with the "twenty-somethings" and I just ran a bit slower at my own pace after that.

The clinic was very informative! We discussed clothing, shoes and accessories for running. Apparently in the running world, "cotton is rotton" since it does not allow your skin to breathe. It also gets heavy once it is wet and this can cause discomfort or even worse, chafing.

For chafing, they recommended Vaseline or a product that they sold in the store called Body Glide that is not as messy to work with as Vaseline, if you suffer from chafing.

We also talked about the importance of shoes, and how a crappy ol' pair of sneakers will not do. Without proper running shoes, there is a greater potential of injuries, since the pavement is not very forgiving on your joints. Also, it is important to get your step analyzed (referred to a gait analysis) to ensure that you have the proper footwear for how your foot touches the ground.

During week two, I ran four times that week either with the group, or on my own. After I understood that my pace was initially too fast, I had a much enjoyable experience running the rest of the week. It's still hard for me, but it is much better than it was. Slowing down was the key.