Sport: To run or not to run? That´s the question

Bilbao family race

Last year I decided that it was never too late to start running. This is a big thing for me because I was born  genetically impaired for running. I swear. I lack the motivation, the sacrifice and the phisique to run. And I accepted it a long time ago. Or so I thought.

I do love sport but to me it has to be fun. If it is not, I´m not interested and can´t be bothered. That´s why I have always been more into group classes such as aerobics or yoga.

With this in mind I decided to start running on the treadmill. Needless to say the first day I could only run for like 2 minutes and I felt I was dying. But after only a couple of weeks I could run up tp 20 - 30 minutes on a good day and I felt empowered.

Then one day I saw the ad for a race that was being organised in Bilbao for the first time. All the money from registrations would be donated to charity and whole families could take part (from babies being pushed in their buggies to grandparents) so I thought it was a good choice to start my running career.

Hiri Krosa 2012 Bilbao

I ended up running 4kms. and survived! By the end of the race I was feeling like a pro athlete and this misconception made me foolish and confident so I registered to run a 6km. race during the Bilbao summer festival.  

Boy, was it a mistake! I might be smiling in the picture on the right but I suffered from minute 1. Every meter of the 6 kms. Every second of the 42 minutes it took me to complete the race. It was hell.

I should probably explain that I had been out until 6am the night before. And even later the 5 nights before that. So my "training method" wasn´t probably the best. My mum was about to call for the police to go searching for me when I finally crossed the finish line. To my shame I admit that a 85-year old participant got in earlier than I did. Shame on me!

I obviously sweared that I was never going to run again. Like never, ever again. But we humans are famous for always making the same mistake twice. And I registered for the family-oriented race again this year.

II Family Race Bilbao

I have to say that it was a completely different experience. And I´m glad I did it. I run for 6 kms and it "only" took 36 minutes. So, who knows, I might decide to try again in the future. Or should I stick to looking good in my yoga clothes?