I really don't like running....don't really like exercising either, but I am doing it for a life change. I feel better once I've done it and actually some days, I actually feel better while I am doing it.

I signed up just for s*#t's and giggles to do this Mile. For Pete's sake, it's one mile but I feel like I have been training for a marathon or something. I just would like to be able to keep up with the group I'm doing it with...and finish...and not last!!!

Today I did a mile on the treadmill in 13:23 min. I felt like I ran/jogged the entire time, but in reality, I probably was walking FAST for about 4-5 minutes of it. It is getting easier every time I do it....but I still wonder....what is the fun in running? I still don't get it.

I have run/jogged outside a few times in my neighborhood but it has so many hills that I really need to do it along the river since that is where the Mile is going to be.

Originally Posted by Tyler Durden:
I'm faster than I used to be, but slower than I'm going to be a year from now. ;)

I like that...

Originally Posted by rileyozzy:
This is a cool thread and it is neat to see everyone's different times. I started running last summer and when I started I couldn't even run/jog for an entire minute and now I am running 4-5 miles 5x a week. I can run about a 10 minute mile, but I seem to run the same pace no matter how long I run. I guess my body is comfortable at that speed. It would be interesting to run just for speed's sake one time. Out of all the exercises I have ever tried, I like running the best because it is so easy to track and see your progress and improvement. It makes me feel good to know that I am constantly improving. :)

When I started the thread, I wasn't sure what kind of response it would have...glad you like it.

Originally Posted by skinnywish:
i am running a mile in about 10:20-10:40 right now. I am hoping to run my first half marathon this fall at a consistent 10 minute mile, putting me around 2h20min time...won't be breaking any records, but I will be happy to just finish, so this seems like a good goal for me!

That's impressive!!! I would love to get to that.

Originally Posted by ennay:
I think if I warmed up properly and then ran a mile I could possibly break 7 minutes but I never have tried. I've done a 7:24 pace for a 5K. I know I've gone under a 7 min pace on 800 intervals. One day I would love to try.

And yes...running (or "jogging" as there is no technical difference) is a mechanical state, not a speed state. I can walk as fast as a 14 minute mile although my shins holler at me if I do it for too long. I know people who run a 16 minute mile and its running.

To call yourself a jogger instead of a runner because you think you are too slow to be a "real runner" is being unkind to yourself. If you run you are a runner.

(Now many runners do call a recovery effort that is significantly slower than their OWN normal pace a recovery jog - but it is based on their OWN normal pace. For Kara Goucher a jog is probably a 7 minute mile. For me that's a sprint. )

I guess I am sort of a runner then.

Originally Posted by zinkemomx2:
Right now I'm averaging between 12-13 mins a mile. That includes a warm up of 2-4 minutes walking and and can't run quite a whole mile yet.

I know this is lame quoting myself but..... I did 11:15 min mile tonight and finally was able to run more than a mile straight. 1.13 to be exact. :D:carrot:

thanks ladies! i will adjust my schedule accordingly!

Originally Posted by Jacque9999:
I really don't like running....don't really like exercising either, but I am doing it for a life change. I feel better once I've done it and actually some days, I actually feel better while I am doing it.
...
It is getting easier every time I do it....but I still wonder....what is the fun in running? I still don't get it.

How long have been running? That is exactly the way I felt about running when I first started. In fact, I think I felt worse about it. I positively loathed it and referred to it as my weekly "torture" sessions. I was miserable while I did it and didn't feel any better afterwards (if anything, I was tired and achy afterwards). But I stuck with it because, despite all of that, like you, I wanted to be healthier and to make a lifestyle change.

And now, going on four years later, I do enjoy running. It's one of my favorite forms of exercise. I get a charge and a feeling of well-being from it that I get from few other things in my life. It's almost like a drug. Swimming has the same effect, but I definitely don't get this effect from the elliptical, the stepmill, spinning, or strength training. There's something special about running. I can't say exactly when running went from being torture to being enjoyable, but it definitely didn't happen overnight. It had to be a least a year, maybe even longer. Running intervals made a big difference for me.

Then there's also the coolness factor of being able to call myself a "runner." I feel like I am part of an exclusive, very cool, "runners" club.

What I'm trying to say, is that if you stick with it, it may take a while, but eventually I think you will begin to enjoy it.

In high school (10 years ago): 20 minutes (asthma)
4 years ago when I began the fitness path: 12-13 minutes (run walk)
2 years ago at my "peak": 7:30 minutes
now: around 8 minutes if I am dead at the end

I have not kept up with cardio since I went back to university but I will work back up to it. I mean, being about to do less than 9 minutes is pretty darn good, especially from where I started at :carrot:

Originally Posted by BlueToBlue:
How long have been running?

I wouldn't really consider what I have been doing as running. HOWEVER, since I started my journey a few months ago, I have fell in love with the Arc Trainer. MY drug of choice......that and circuit training w/cardio. But the running, I just don't get. I really just started to "train" so to speak about a month ago for the Mile I am doing in a few weeks. I need to get outside to do it, along the river and maybe that will change my mind a bit on the whole activity.

I have made the lifestyle change...

Originally Posted by Jacque9999:
But the running, I just don't get. I really just started to "train" so to speak about a month ago for the Mile I am doing in a few weeks. I need to get outside to do it, along the river and maybe that will change my mind a bit on the whole activity.

I bet you'll at least like it a little more once you do it outside. I consider running on a treadmill torture -- I've done it a handful of times in the past, but I have trouble running in a straight line (yeah, I'm that person who falls off the treadmill, lol), I get SO BORED indoors, and I hate that dizzy feeling when you're done. But running outside, seeing bunnies and deer, hearing birds and bugs, feeling the breeze, saying hi to random neighbors, and sometimes going out just in time to see the sun set... I love that.