Running

I have decided to start a new blog and dedicate it to all my Couch to 5K/Jogging-related posts.  I will post this entry on the blog and then all of my future jogging blogs will be on that blog only.  I added a link to it on the right column of my blog.  Feel free to follow that blog and follow my journey to a 5k!

Several months ago I wrote about starting the Couch to 5K program.  I am very good at starting things, then not finishing them.  I only did 1 week of the program in September.  :(

I am hoping that is not the case this time around! I started again this week and I am hoping to STAY WITH IT!  I love, love, love it.  I LOVE jogging.  I have NEVER been a runner, but I’ve always wanted to be.  I read several blogs of girls that I both know and don’t know, who have been running half-marathons, and I am super jealous because I want to do that! 

SO, anyway.  Day before yesterday, I started up the C25K again.  I thought about starting out with Week 1, which is probably what I should have done.  Week 1 is a 5 minute warm-up, then you alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes, followed by a 5 minute cool down.  When I did the first week 2 months ago, I loved it, thought it was tough but definitely “do-able,” and finished it without feeling like I was going to die.

Week 2 is a 5 minute warm-up, then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and 2 minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes, and a 5 minute cool-down. It doesn’t sound that hard to me. It’s SIX 1.5-minute jogs and FIVE 2-minute walks.  Let me tell you…. it’s hard.  The first three jogs are not tough.  The fourth one starts getting to me. The fifth one I skip, and the sixth and final jog, I can barely get through.  BUT, I do as much as I can without falling over on the side of the road and dying in the ditch. And at the end of the run, I feel really good.

By the time the 30-minute workout is over, I still have a little ways before I get home, so my cool-down is more like 10 minutes instead of 5, but that’s a good thing.  Right now I am running/walking right at 2 miles, but as I move on each week, I will run more and walk less, which means I will be going further.  I cannot WAIT until I will run my entire first 5K!  And my long-term goal is to run a half-marathon (13.1 miles) next FALL.

I have done 2 days of the 2nd week, but I am going to do it twice, instead of doing the 3rd week next week. I am hoping to post each time I run until I finish the program, then I will start training for a longer distance.  :)

If you want more information about the Couch to 5K program, click here.  There are also apps for the iPod/iPhone (and Droid as well, I believe) that are very handy.

And, last but not least, I’d like to introduce you to my new best (and worst) friend.  I’m not positive yet, but I think I’m going to name her Betty.

I say best, because she will make it so much easier to go for a run while I am by myself with Christopher.  I say worst, because she weighs 30ish pounds… plus 25ish pound-Christopher.  You can do the math.

Happy jogging!