Mea culpa to my runner friends

I should start this post with an apology to my runner pals who, throughout 2011, offered to train with me for a race. Any race. Even just a 5K or something. And I wrote a blog entry that was all, "I don't want to run, so back off."

Part of it was laziness. It's hard to run. I've never enjoyed it. And part of it was that people who run tend to get fairly obsessed with it. Every status update on Facebook is "Ran seven miles today (insert pat on the back here)." And I'm thinking, "Is there nothing else you have to update us on? I swear, I will hide you in my news feed!" (And wouldn't that just be tragic for them.)

But then I got to thinking, these people are obsessed for a reason. Clearly, there's something more enjoyable about this form of exercise than many other forms. Because I tell ya, nothing makes me want to update my status with the number of strides I did on the elliptical that morning. Mostly I just want to forget it ever happened and move on with my day.

So, with an apology to those who I brutally rebuffed in the past, I think I'm going to give it a whirl. I'd like to push it the next couple of months to take off the last chunk of poundage I need to lose so that by spring/early summer I'll be ready to do some sort of couch to 5K program.

No marathons, folks. No half marathons. I'm not in this to go crazy and push my body to its physical limits. There's absolutely nothing in that that sounds even mildly appealing. I just want to see what being a runner is all about and see if it would make working out every day more fun.

I'm not starting now. As much as I love the Y, and I certainly do, I can't imagine running laps around the track. It's way too reminiscent of sixth grade gym class, except without the cute boy butts to watch as I'm circling the track for the umpteenth time. (Relax. I was in sixth grade at the time, so it was OK back then to enjoy looking at sixth-grade booties.)

Anyway, it's something to work toward. We'll see how it goes. If I start updating my status every day with how many miles ... ok, yards ... I ran that day, though, feel free to hide me. That's just the worst.