There are quite a few things that no one ever told me before I started running.  But the idea of discovering is the whole reason we try something new – to learn.  To find the good, and the bad.

To live it.  To breathe it.
It’s for the experience, right?

Nevertheless, here are some of the things I learned for myself:

• Runny noses
  I don’t know about everyone else, but my nose runs like crazy on half the runs I do.  My nose decides that it, too, wants to get running.  Cheesy, I know.  But it does. 

• Wedgies
  Regardless of the underwear (or pants) that I choose to wear, I always get a wedgie.  Always.  My underwear rides up so high that I can almost taste them.  Oh, the imagery!  I’ve given up fighting them now.  So you can see the bunching through my tights?  Look away!  Can’t touch this! (Wish I had an appropriate MC Hammer sound clip right now)

• Boobs
  Okay, I knew this already.  And I had started with good equipment.  But nothing truly prepares you for high impact training like high impact training.  Bounce, bounce, bounce!  Ladies, buy a good bra!  Then buy a couple more.

• Getting lost in your thoughts
  This is why I run.  I run to think.  It’s something I found when I was walking home, too.  Once you get into the swing of things, the thinking just happens.  It flows easily and you get lost in whatever train of thought takes your fancy.  Your feet just know what to do.  And apparently, my form’s better when my head’s in the clouds.

• Lungs!
  Full of air, they power you through.  They hurt.  But they feel amazing when you stop.  Thinking about my breathing is one of the few things that pull me out of the clouds to concentrate on my running.  And it’s such a good way to see how your fitness is improving.  I just have to compare the feeling in my lungs after week one of the Couch to 5K programme with the way I feel now, in the midst of my fourth week, to get the warm fuzzies that with accomplishment!

• Competition
  Running is competitive.  The sport of it is to run races.  Races are to see who is fastest.  A competition.  But even if you’re not training to run races – if you run to run and not to win shiny medals or set a personal best – there’s still something that ticks over when another runner pops up in the vicinity.  Generally, I don’t compete in something unless I know I’m in with a chance.  But watch out if you’re on the treadmill next to me tomorrow.

• Treadmill politics
  I guess this will be a hard one to distinguish from the ‘competition’ point above.  Unless you’ve been in a similar situation it might be hard to see the differences.  But good luck if you’re the only walker on the treadmills and there’s a crowd waiting.  Similarly, if you’re doing interval training (like I do) and someone’s looking to run a billion gazillion kilometres atexactly 10.3km/hr, you best be wearing some thick skin.  Then again, it could be the whole women’s only aspect of my recent gym experience.

But that’s enough about me -
What did you find when you started running (or even just exercising in general) ?