C25K

I ran today.

Well, ok, it was really more of a slow jog, but still. Nobody was chasing me, nothing was on fire, and no one was running in front of me dangling a doughnut on a string. I just…ran…for a total of about 8 minutes. Yeah, I know, nobody’s going to be beating down my door to get me on the next US Olympic relay team, but hey – it’s about 7 minutes and 59 1/2 seconds longer than I could have run just a couple of months ago. Let me bask for a minute…

I’ve always liked the idea of running, but have never really gotten around to making the idea a reality. When I was in high school, I would (very) occasionally go jog around the track, but as this was approximately 153 years before the invention of the ipod, I got bored pretty easily, and decided that riding my bike was a better option. In more recent years, I’d get 2 – 3 steps into a run and think, “Huh. This hurts. Better stop now.” Yes, I was that out of shape.

Now that I’ve been working out pretty regularly for the last 3 months, I’ve decided to revisit the idea by trying out the Couch-to-5K Running Plan. It’s a program that’s been around since the mid-90’s, designed to get lazy-assed couch potatoes like me up and running – literally –  within about 2 months’ time. The premise is to ease you into it gradually, alternating jogging and walking. By the end of it, I’m supposed to be able to run 5K (about 3 miles) without stopping.

Today was Session #1. The whole program involves 3 sessions per week for 9 weeks. Week one’s sessions are all the same: a 5 minute, brisk, warm-up walk, then alternate 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes, followed by a 2 minute cool-down walk.

One down, 26 to go!

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