Rising to the Challenge

I have never been a runner. Growing up, I was always told that I could not run due to my breathing problems. I always believed it, partly because I couldn't breathe when I ran. Had I only known. Part of the problem was dairy. In the last three years, I've learned that I am very sensitive to dairy. I've learned that dairy is mucus producing, and helped close up my airways. I've posted before about how about a year ago I was tricked into running a mile for the first time in my life. Now, I regularly run 3 to 5 miles at a time and am training for my first half marathon. I'm still really slow, though, or so I thought. My fastest mile time was just over 10 minutes

This week at my fitness class, the trainer issued a mile challenge. Every class begins with a timed mile run.  Monday, I was not feeling well and could not complete the mile challenge. My husband and 14yo ds did, though. DH did great at just under 9 minutes. DS did ok, but did not run the whole way. When he runs, he is fast, but he hasn't quite grasped the idea of pacing yet. He ran about the first half mile, then walked a lot, then ran a bit at the end. He still came in under 10 minutes. Yesterday (Tuesday), I was feeling better and set my goal to come in under 10 minutes. DS did not want to run again. I pushed harder than I ever imagined, and finished in 9:05. I was in shock. It took me a couple hours to catch my breath after that, but I was still really excited. In fact, I had to tutor math after that and started to lose my voice. I decided to try a teaspoon of honey to see if that would help. It did. I took the honey, and then a glass of water and instantly felt better.

Today, was a very different story. Today, I threw down a challenge to the 14yo to see if he would rise to the challenge and beat me. I knew very well that he was capable of it. He does not suffer from my breathing afflictions. I also set a goal to come in under 9 minutes. I started out a little slower than yesterday, because that's when I tend to have the most trouble breathing. Once I start having trouble, it's hard to get my breath back. It turned out to be a great strategy. I did rise to the challenge and finished in 8:43. The teenager also rose to the challenge. He ran the whole mile and came in well ahead of me. He was greatly rewarded for his efforts too. I also have to say, that today I felt so much better than yesterday too. I did not have any trouble catching my breath when I was finished. I'm even thinking that tomorrow I can give a bit more and get under 8:30.