Couch to 5K

So I needed a challenge. And a challenge I’ve got.

Me- running- 3 miles straight- in a mere 10 weeks.

Sounds impossible, doesn’t it?

We will see.

I had heard about the “Couch to 5K” program from several friends when I began the diet, but have been hesitant to try it up to this point. It’s a program that has you running intervals and walking in between in order to build up your endurance.
But running has never been my thing.

I joined track in 7th grade for a whopping 5 days, and ended up with shin splints. One time I ran 2 blocks to rescue a baby that had wandered out into the street. I couldn’t catch my breath for an hour. When I got my treadmill last February, I tried to run for 5 minutes at a time. My knees were killing me when I was done.

Nope, running has never been my friend. Not only from the physical aspect, but emotionally as well. What is my motivation to run? What do I have to run from or towards? Is there anything running can give me that aerobics or Fat Girl Yoga can’t?

I don’t know, but I am willing to find out. 10 weeks isn’t all that long. Just over 2 months. And I can do anything for 2 months. If nothing else, it will make me work harder on the diet, because I am going to be really irritated if I eat poorly and undo all the benefits that running could give me, in a burning calories sort of way.

The “Couch to 5K” plan is simple. It’s laid out on http://www.coolrunning.com/ and it’s only 3 times a week. So I am going to work the plan on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Feel free to join me and see if the plan works! Personally, I can’t imagine that I could ever run for 3 miles without my lungs exploding or my calves falling off, but I am willing to try!

I am also going to beef up the yoga this week. I have ordered several new DVDs that should be arriving this week, and they are more intense than the Fat Girl Yoga I hold so dear. You all may get another “Yoga Incident” post. That remains to be seen. But until then, with my heart geared toward running and my duct tape covered chest shining, I am going to give this new plan a whirl.

(By the way, with this video, Matt and I stuck to the plan of no script. He had 3 questions he had to ask me, and was forced to make up the rest. He had no idea how I would answer. I, in turn, had no idea what he would say except for those 3 questions. We caught each other off guard pretty often, as you can tell. We also caught our camera guys off guard, and you will notice that the camera shakes often from our nephews trying to control their laughter. We didn’t really tell them what the video was about, we just went for it. Poor guys. Good thing this family has a wonderful sense of humor!)

Running to the finish line-

Charlie