Run ... for Fun??

I believe about a month ago I told my good friend Jen that I would never run a marathon. And in truth, I don't plan on it now. So many of my good friends run: Tiffany (pictured above with her hubby), Evan and Jen, Kurt, Alex. It seems like everyone's running a marathon these days. And in the middle of all this is little old asthmatic me.

I used to love to run. I was one of the fastest in my grade and could run forever. Then, in 6th grade, I got sinusitis which turned into bronchitis which was the start of my breathing problems. I'm not entirely positive, but I believe I got my exercise induced asthma because of this episode. I never got winded as a kid. Then, from 6th grade on, I couldn't run a quarter of a mile without wheezing. I thought I was just out of shape when it came to running. After all, I could dance for 2 hours without worrying about my air intake.

Sophomore year of college I finally figured out what I had--exercise induced asthma--and was diagnosed. And then a year later, my asthma took a fun turn to full blown asthma. It wasn't pretty. And it was suddenly way harder to breathe. Thankfully, I was already addicted to fitness at this point and so it didn't deter my getting-in-shape goals, though it made cardio the bane of my existence. I rely solely on gym classes for my cardio. Otherwise, I get bored, I can't breathe, and I quit 10 minutes in. But in a gym class everyone watches you when you leave early, especially the teacher, and if that's not awkward, I don't know what is (Other than a condom commercial coming on the radio when you're in the car alone with your father-in-law. True story.). I really love my gym classes--I attend Turbo Kickboxing, Step, and Zumba faithfully. I've almost grown to love them more than, gasp!, weightlifting. But not because I love cardio. I still dislike cardio.

Well, the other day, Kurt somehow talked me into running a 10k with him on Memorial Day. With asthma. After being sick and exercising very little for one and a half months. And I don't enjoy running.

So why am I doing it? Because it's a challenge. I enjoy the idea of making myself do things I don't want to. I have this convoluted idea that it proves will power. Or something. I don't know. At any rate, I guess I've got a little masochist inside because for the next 8 weeks, in addition to my current work out schedule, I will be following this training schedule (from Runner's World, with bits of real runner in it, so you know it's good):
SUN MON TUE WED THURS FRI SAT

Week 1	Rest	2M easy, then 4 x 400m, with 400m or 3-min jog recoveries, then 2M easy	Rest	Rest	Rest	2-2.5M easy, 2M faster, jog to finish	2-3M easy
Week 2	Rest	2M easy, then 4 x 600m or 2 mins, with 400m or 3-min jog recoveries, then 2M easy	Rest	Rest	Rest	15 mins easy, 15 mins fast but controlled, jog to finish	3-4M easy
Week 3	Rest	2-2.5M easy, then 4 x 800m or 3 mins, with 400m or 3-4 min jog recoveries, then 2M easy	Rest	Rest	Rest	30-40 mins relaxed, inc hills	4-6M easy
Week 4	Rest	2M easy, then 8 x 400m or 70-80 secs, with 400m or 3-min recoveries, then 2M easy	Rest	Rest	Rest	5M, first half at 70%, second at 85%	5-7M easy
Week 5	Rest	2M easy, then 8 x 500m or 90-100 secs, with 400m or 3-min recoveries, then 2M easy	Rest	Rest	Rest	35-45 mins fartlek with varied efforts and recoveries	6-7M easy
Week 6	Rest	2-2.5M easy, then 5 x 800m or 3 mins, with 400m or 3-min jog recoveries, then 2-2.5M easy	Rest	Rest	Rest	6-7.5M gradual acceleration in 2.5M segments, ie 70%-80%-90%	7-8M easy
Week 7	Rest	2-3M easy, then 10 x 400m or 70-80 secs, then 400m or 2-3-min jog recoveries, then 2-3M easy	Rest	Rest	Rest	Warm up, then 4 x 1M or 5.5-6min, with 3-4 min recoveries, then cool down	7-9M easy
Week 8	Rest	2-3M easy, then 5-6x 500m or 90-100 secs, with 400m or 2-3 min jog recoveries, then 2-3M easy	Rest	4-5M easy	Rest	Rest	RACE

Wish me luck! I'll keep y'all updated on my status. Oh, and I had to pay $42 so I can't quit now...