Week 2 : It's Like Piano Lessons All Over Again

We started our second week, and my handy C25K app and running coach have me running for 90 seconds and walking for two minutes during this week's cycle.  I didn't think the extra 30 seconds of running would bother me, and it didn't...until the last 90-second stretch.

It's not that I was winded or tired or sore.  In all honesty, I felt like I could've plodded on for another half hour or so if I hadn't had to scoot out of there if I wanted to catch most of our older son's basketball practice (which, of course, I did).

But I felt kind of...I don't know...blah about things.  Ninety seconds of running and two minutes of walking.  Will all of this really lead to my being able to run for 30 minutes straight?  Will I ever be able to run for longer than that?  Will I ever be able to write about going out for that long run in preparation for a 10K or a half marathon?

The truth is that I want to be able to run for extended periods now.  I don't want to be a walker who runs for a few minutes here and there.  I want to step out of my front door and run, just like that.

I had the same feeling when I was about seven or eight years old and my parents bought a piano because my older brother and I were going to start taking piano lessons.  I really wanted to be able to play the piano.  After a little while, though, it became clear to everyone involved that I couldn't even borrow musical talent.  I had NONE.  What's more, I hated the lessons.  And I couldn't read music anymore than I could read a French novel.  I mean, I could tell you what the notes on the paper were, thanks to remembering that "Every Good Boy Does Fine" and "All Cows Eat Grass."  But in order for me to play anything, I had to memorize segments at a time and then put it all together.  At best it was a disaster.

Finally, after what seemed like half my life had gone by, my parents said that I could stop torturing everyone and they let me quit.  When my grandfather found out, he actually thanked me.  I don't think he could've taken one more screech-filled recital.

I guess my point to all this whining and moaning is that there's a seven-year-old trapped inside me, once again, screaming that she wants to be able to do it NOW.  I don't want to think about taking it slowly.  I don't want to practice and learn the steps.

I want the end result at the beginning.

Of course, the times in my life when I've tried to make things happen that way I ended up (a) playing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" 34 times because I couldn't read the sheet music OR remember how to end the piece, and (b) with shin splints.

So...90 seconds of running and two minutes of walking it is.