Running, so far

Sometime after the second Tuesday in April & before the second Tuesday in May, I started running.   Kind of like Forrest Gump, I just started.   I did however have a particular reason:  & I didn't just start running, I started one minute intervals.  Eight of them, which took me not quite a 3/4 of a mile, but since I went in one direction for 1/2 a mile, I ended up walking back whatever was left over after the 8th run.

After a couple weeks, I went to the end of the dirt road, just a shave under one mile, & then back, still one minute running, one minute walking.  Then I started pushing some of the sets to two minutes (the running sets, not the walking ones), then added another 1/2 mile to the loop.

That is more or less where I am right now.  I have also gained 4 pounds since I started; if I lose another pound I will be where I was when I started running.  The sloooooooow scale up means no shin splints or post-running pain of any kind (except mild muscle soreness, I mean c'mon). 

My goal is to run a local 5k in October & so far, so good.  I don't care if I am dead last, but I want to finish.  I need to add a third mile by the end of June, & a fourth by the end of July while pushing the running from one to two to three etc. minutes at a stretch. 

As for the running itself?  I mostly hate it.  I ran right after tropical depression Beryl, on a dirt road when a good bit of my route was under water well over the tops of my sneakers; this run was not significantly worse than any of the others.   Actually, the rain pouring down my face, behind my glasses, while not exactly fun, was kind of cooling.  What I like is the pain I used to have in my hip when I sat for a long time is gone.  Also, I feel free to eat anything I want (little window into how I am gaining weight & why I say IF I lose another pound).  yesterday I had a KitKat for breakfast.