I like running, but I am not a natural runner. I can swim like a fish but not run, why I felt it was important to tell you can swim, I don’t know, but the point is I try to keep fit. It sounds ridiculous that someone can’t run given its a natural progression to walking, however, gravity and I aren’t friends on the best of days.
I know what the problem is because on the treadmill I’m a star but on the road where I want to run I can’t get my breathing and my step to work right. It sounds crazy when you say it out loud, but you have to get into a rhythm well for me at least.
Trouble with me is while I’m hyperventilating trying to get my breathing to match my feet, my logical thinking goes out the window. I start to worry that everyone is looking at me. That people are purposely slowly down in their cars ready to poke fun at my sweaty red face and yell, run fat girl run. So once the over-thinking starts it, then it all goes down the proverbial toliet and so I stop. I start walking instead, but again I like to run. It’s like dancing with me again something I’m not good at, but again I like to dance.
So I run, walk, curse, run, walk and curse a lot. It generally goes in that order. I can run, walk, curse a fair distance but I really want to run a fair distance on its own.
Then I read somewhere about thinking of running as a bouncing walk.
OMG!
This little theory is life changing. I have gone from bounce walking which may or may not look just as ridiculous as run fat girl run, but I’m bounce walking my walk to a solid 5km without the curse.
Sometimes there is a walk when I see an oncoming car I’m not going to lie, but the majority is the bounce walk and because I’m finding my rhythm everything else is falling into place.
I’m so pleased with myself I may even take my bounce walk run public at my local park run.
I don’t want to run marathons; I would like to do tri thing, but this little piece of advice was game changing for me.
Have you got any running tips? That will make my bounce walk less golden girl shuffle like?
