Starting to Feel Like an Actual Runner (sort of) and Talking While Running

For anybody who still doesn't know, my first 5k is on Saturday night in San Francisco (Candlestick Park area) and I am BEYOND excited. 

Along with being excited though, I'm really nervous! 

REALLY NERVOUS!!

But anyways, I will be walking a lot of this 5k, I think... I hope it's ok with my friends who'll be there with me! I'm really slow, still. I could maybe run 2 of the miles straight if I go EXTRA slowly. Maybe. 

But regardless of the nerves, I am still feeling almost like a runner. 

I know that I say all the time that you're a runner when you run, but I get really self-conscious when running with new people, and I start to feel like for them it's more important to run faster than to stay slow with me. But yesterday I ran with a friend I haven't seen in a while, and I kept egging her on to go ahead if she wanted, and finally she just said, "running with you is better than nothing!"

I know, it's an anti-compliment, and she acknowledged that fact and explained that she meant to say that running with somebody is a different experience. Just like I don't want to run alone, there is more joy in the sport when there is somebody there with you! When you're sharing the pain, the achievements, the company, and, well, the sweat, it all seems easier! I don't know about you, but I'll be huffing and puffing along, and then remember to check my breathing and I just start yapping about anything! I swear, I can talk about nothing so well now. Haha. 

It can be annoying, I'm sure, to run with the same people all the time. I, luckily, get to mix it up and tell the same stories a few times, get different perspective on life issues, hear how others are doing with their fitness goals and life in general, and, well, bitch about what sucks that day.

Talking, by the way, is a really good way to gauge how hard you're running. When you can't talk, you can consider yourself to be running very hard. When you're able to sing and run, then you would be running very easy. As somebody who's not great at distance (yet!), I can tell you that it is super helpful to use these talking/singing tricks to help gauge effort while doing interval training!

I wish you all a summer of colorful food on your plate, and quick recovery from kicking so much butt!