Juli Benson, Olympian / Running Coach: There's a saying in the running community that 4our sport is your sports punishment. You know, there's still this little kind of 5negative 6connotation 7when it comes to running. The first three weeks are very tough.
¡°Honestly, that one was kind of 8discouraging.¡±
Start in very small 9segments and work the running segments up a little bit more. Try not to add more than maybe 10% to each run. So, if you're doing 30 minutes of 60 seconds jog, 60 seconds walk, that's 15 minutes of running. So, your next run shouldn't be much more total than 16 or 17 minutes and just keep going that way. You will turn that corner one day and all of a sudden, you're gonna say, oh my gosh, I just ran four minutes 10in a row without stopping.
CNN Writer: Well, it is early, it's cold, but it is race day and after a little over a month of trying to 11put running into practice, I'm excited but I'm also kind of nervous. Of course, my 12competitive 13nature is a little bit worried that I'm going to 14come in dead last.
I finished, which was really exciting. This has really taught me that you can't go 100%, 100% of the time. And learning how to 15pace myself, I think, really made a difference. If I¡¯m being totally honest, running still isn't my passion. I still am a dance, Pilates, martial arts class kind of 16gal, but I do feel good afterward and I do enjoy it 17along the way. And I'm excited to have running as another tool in my physical fitness tool belt.