Nov. 18, 2008

Project 13.1
Niece "A" is under way. See her comments in the Nov. 13 post.

It's not surprising at all that "A" ran two miles without stopping for the first time in her life in her very first training session. Like everyone else in her family, she's a competitor, and competitors are compelled to "just do it." Two non-stop miles right out of the chute? Impressive.

But now that she's done it, let's hope the urge is gone. It's unnecessary and just too dangerous, especially this early in the game. Those two miles, even if they were slow, were a shock to her body. Remember, her body had never experienced the pounding of a two-mile run before. Eliptical and walking workouts are great, but they are very low impact compared to running. Even on a treadmill, running is a jarring exercise. On a level surface, each footfall hits with the force of twice the runner's full body weight.

But the body is amazingly adaptive. It loves exercise and will respond enthusiastically to a slow build up that strengthens and conditions the muscles, tendons, bones and vascular system. Add proper shoes to absorb the shock of impact, and in a matter of a few weeks it will take lot more than two miles to register a shock to the system.