The Chairman's Fitness Challenge Blog

Last night, I achieved one of the small, undocumented objectives of this 52 day challenge - I went for a real, outdoor run.  In public, where others could see me.  I've been doing the treadmill, on and off, for several months, and gotten pretty close to my goal of 3.1 miles (5km) in 30 minutes, but I haven't run outside for years.  Unfortunately, very few sanctioned 5k runs take place on treadmills, so I knew that sooner or later I'd have to venture out and try it on the road.  So, after much gnashing of teeth while studying my neighbourhood on mapmyrun.com, and obsessing over weather forecasts, I just laced on my 6-months-old-but-still-new New Balance shoes, ventured out the front door, and went for it.

Much to the surprise of my wife, I survived this first baby step (actually 1.75 miles of baby steps) in one piece.  I think it went pretty well - nobody pointed at me and laughed; my breathing sounded to me like a transport truck with faulty air brakes, but nobody else seemed to notice.  And it felt GOOD!  (Except for the "I'm gonna die" feelings that coincided with one of the walking breaks).

My time was actually about the same as on the treadmill, even though I took a break or three that I wouldn't have needed on the 'mill.  I think it's absolutely true that you run a little faster on the road, but it also takes some serious getting used to, stressing the cardio system more.

This was a great step for me - I know that I can get in a half hour of cardio without investing an hour and a half when factoring in the drive to the gym, changing, etc.

While running, my mind drifted back to years ago, when I used to take long late-night walks in similar streets, but smoking a half a pack or so to get my heart rate up instead of jogging.  All in all, this seems like a much better idea.