Virtual 5k meme, and my first run in awhile

Damnit, I still haven't posted my amazing race photos. Grrr.... And I'm at school right now, so I don't have them to post. Ah well, tonight, for sure.

In the meantime, I'm going to belatedly do this Wee Little 5k Meme, because I love any excuse to talk about myself, especially with regards to running. Like, after I win my first marathon, people will flock to read this. For sure.

1. When did you start running?
I'd tried running off and on with 0% success several times in my life. Usually on the treadmill, in 2 minute bursts, before collapsing. But my Dad is a runner, and he's always gently prodded me to try it. I always really wanted to--it seems like the perfect exercise--but I always figured it just wasn't in the realm of possibility for me. My chest is huge (although smaller since I started!), and it required two sports bras to keep under control. Plus, running just always seemed so... hard. Unpleasant. So I stuck to things that were more enjoyable, like the elliptical machine. Or more often, sitting on the couch.

Then I came to South Korea in July 2007. I was living with a crazy new family, teaching a bunch of crazy students, and unable to communicate with anyone, so I needed some time out of the house and on my own. I shudder to think what I must have looked like those first few months in my tank top, though at the time I was oblivious, thankfully. Korean summers are a lot like Florida summers (where I'm from), and I'd never have dreamt of jogging in Florida in July, even at 10pm, but I did it. It was hard, and it sucked, and I didn't do it very well, but I did it pretty consistently. It wasn't, however, until I started the Couch to 5k program in March that I started really training. Up until then I only jogged intervals, so about 8 minutes straight was my longest ever. Now, I'm a 34 minute runner. Awesomeness.

2. Did you follow a plan to start running?
Oh, whoops. I should read ahead. Ah well, let me extol the virtues of C25k one more time. It was awesome. I trusted it, it didn't let me down. And even more than the program, the podcasts were what got me through those first 4 weeks. If I'd had to keep glancing at my watch and doing calculations in my head, I would have definitely quit before I started (I'm math-impaired). The music was terrible, but it got me through the intervals.

3. Why did you start running?
Two reasons, both of which I think I already mentioned. When I came to South Korea I was about 60 pounds overweight and miserable. (I'm still working on 20 of those pounds, but I've lost about 40 since I started running, and 60 from my highest weight.) The combination of being afraid of most of the food in the beginning (with good reason) and all that running worked. I'd always idealized running in my mind--it seemed like the best exercise. I'm a solitary person, so I like that aspect of it. It requires no equipment (outside of a pair of shoes) and can be done anywhere. And, by doing it, you're always preparing for a disaster! What's not to like? Plus... like I said before, it's really fucking hard. I'm the type of person who likes a challenge, who likes to prove to myself that I can do something.

I also wanted to make my Dad proud, and be able to go jogging with him when I go home, and now I'm looking forward to doing that! :)

4. Now that you are running regularly, what do you find to be the biggest benefits?
The weight loss is a huge benefit, but for me it was more an amazing confidence-booster to know that I've accomplished something this big (big for me, at least) in training for and running the whole 5k. I also feel "healthier," whatever that means.

5. What are your future plans for running, short-term and long-term?
My short-term plans are to keep working at the 5k distance. After the 5k I tried running for longer times, and I just got bored to death, which is a problem for me. When I'm bored, I think about how unpleasant running actually can feel, and I want to quit. I'm not sure if I'll ever be a long-distance runner, certainly not a marathoner, which is okay with me. I only want to do it for the health benefits. I want to keep running about 3 miles four times a week for the next 6 months or so, then I think I'll start thinking about a 10k around New Years 2009. One thing I've never been able to try is running with other people, which I think might alleviate the boredom problem, and make longer distances possible. We'll see.

Long-term, I want to be a runner for life. Once I get home and have the benefit of GPS tracking (and once I buy my awesome runner's watch thingy as a reward for reaching goal weight!), I'm going to start keeping track of my total mileage. It'll be cool to see how many miles I run in a month or year.

6. What are your personal goals for the Virtual 5k?
Last night was actually my first run in about a month, since my first 5k, so I don't think I can expect a phenomenal showing, which is okay by me. Since there's only one competitor in my race, I can be sure that I will win anyway! So long as I finish... :) The "5k" race I ran in wasn't actually a full 5k, I discovered, so I can't really go by my time in that. When I ran a practice on the track my time was around 32-33 minutes, so I'm shooting for under 32:00. Not sure it's possible, especially because it's about a billion times hotter and more humid now than it was then, but whatever. I suppose it's good--just finishing a run always floods me with a sense of accomplishment.

7. Do you have a music "theme song" that you will use for this race?
There's a bunch of songs that I love to listen to while running, especially hip-hop, but I recently discovered an awesome song. It's by a Korean group called The Wonder Girls. They're analogous to the Spice Girls, if you remember them. (Side note: Korean hip-hop/pop music is [obviously] in Korean, so I can't understand most of it. But because English is so important in Korea, almost every song will have a few lines [often meaningless] in English.) So my theme song as of late is called "So Hot," and the lyrics are... so dumb. But it's a good running song.

"I'm so hot
I'm so fine
I'm so cool
I'm so so so hot hot
All the boys be loving me, girls be hating me
And they will never stop, 'cause they know I'm so hot hot"

Still, it's catchy. Don't take my word for it, please watch this video. It's subtitled for your viewing pleasure.

Hmm... otherwise to report, I'm working hard this month to get into a new size before I go home. I only have a month at home, and I get to buy all new clothes (expensive, grr)... so I want to be in a size I'll want to stay for six months when I do that. I'm shooting for 10. Last night I went for my first run in almost a month, in the pouring rain. It's was painful, mostly thanks to the rain I'm sure, but I managed about 22 minutes, I think. I had to take a walk break in the middle for one song-length, but I traipsed through.