Fitness

Couch to 5K

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Category: Fitness

Published on Saturday, May 21, 2011 09:58 pm

Written by Ken Morgan

Physical fitness was never a priority to me.  Oh sure, in college and after I toyed with going to a gym.  I even tried to jog once or twice, I even took Jogging as a PE credit.  I never went to class and squeaked out with a 'D'.

As I mentioned in my post, Making a Change, I had a moment where I knew I needed to do something.  Over the last several weeks, I had been eating differently and increasing my physical activity.  Using the Jillian Michaels ifit program for our treadmill, I had been fairly regular with walking several times per week.  Recently thought, that wasn't cutting it.

At the same time, I had been reading quite a bit about C25K, or Couch to 5K. Basically, it is a running program to get someone who had never run before (me) off the couch and running (not walking) a 5K race in just NINE WEEKS. 

After some investigating I decided to give it a try.  The program has you alternating from walking and running in increasing intervals. I found an app for my Droid that will notify me when to start walking or running.  So, I gave it a try.

My first two runs were on a treadmill in a hotel gym. I was away for a few days at a training and thought it was the perfect time to do it.  Let me tell you, it was a shock.  Even thought I only ran about nine minutes total, it was one of the hardest things I had ever tried.  Each time the program beeped and said "RUN" I died a little inside, but I did it anyway.  I finished that first workout, and man, did I feel good after.  I mean really, I felt great.

As I was pushing through it, I realized "I can do anything for 30 minutes."  Well, maybe I can't run 30 minutes right off the bat, but I can do nine minutes over 30.  That got me through.

Today I did workout three, and I did it outside.  What a difference that is.  It's a bit harder, actually.  First off because your speed is totally on you.  You don't have to keep up with a treadmill, so trying to keep a good pace and not cheat and slowdown is a challenge in itself.  Also the terrain varies, weather, traffic and other obstacles all make it more challenging. 

When it was over, and as I was driving home from the park where I ran I knew I was making the right choice. I need to keep challenging myself but do it in such a way that I don't burn out or stop.

Quick weight update.  I'm hovering at ~235 pounds for the last few weeks.  Being away, bad food choices and just life have kept me at the same place.  Time to get back on plan. 

Weigh in tomorrow.