Friday, March 12, 2010

From Couch Potato to...

On Wednesday, I officially began the "From Couch Potatoes to 5K" Running Program. It's an incremental schedule of run/walking that trains you to be able to run a 5k in two months. I have never been a runner. Let me clarify. I have never run. Anywhere. Originally running appealed to me for all the right reasons like cool new clothes and being able to drop sentences like "well, on my run this morning..." in normal conversation.

But what I finally came down to were these five newly-adopted axioms for my season in life:
1. Find what is life giving for you and do it.
2. Get outside - the parking lot at Target does not count.
3. Love being with your kids
4. You can love being with your kids when they are strapped into a stroller - sometimes its just safer for everyone involved.
5. Achieve something tangible everyday.

Running seemed to fit the criteria quite nicely. Thus we began.
Sophia looks very doubtful of this whole operation. I realize the odds are against me here with my fitness track record (no pun intended.) I made a key move though. I enlisted the help of my friend Jessie. Note: Jessie is seventeen. This is significant. She claims to not be able to run much but she also spontaneously signs up for new sports each year and takes all sorts of fitness classes. She is up for anything and I love talking to her which helps I found in the grueling moments. I realize this could be very well a pity move on her part. But I accept it. Look at the name of this running program? My pride left a while ago.
Don't think I haven't noticed that Jessie has a really nice UnderArmor fleece. I really want one. But I will not reward myself with any new work out clothes until I make some significant progress - which for this program probably means running for 3 minutes consecutively...It could be a while...

I felt like Olivia believed from the beginning. She shouts "whee" when we go fast. That is encouraging.
Here we are after our first workout. We did 60 seconds of running followed by 90 seconds of walking in intervals for 20 minutes.
Yay for Endorphins!




9 comments:

jess said...

Nina I am so proud of you...can I partake in the workouts when I'm back in the burg' next weekend?!?! This post made me laugh so hard and miss you so much!

Kristin said...

Nina, I completely affirm this. I literally could not run for 5 consecutive minutes when I started running. Always remember, there is no shame in walking!

LindseyStrickland said...

Of course, the first thing I spot in this post is the double bob. I'm anxious to hear if it changes your life as I've heard other claim.

Maria said...

So glad you posted this...I've had the workout site bookmarked on my computer for months but have been ignoring my start date. After reading your post, I found an awesome iphone app this morning that tells you when to run & walk, so I downloaded it and started! Woohoo! Of course, I ignored the warnings to stretch and felt like my shins were gonna split in half after about 15 mins, but it was a start. I'd love to hear about your progress since you motivated me to start the program too...

Elizabeth said...

Hi Nina! I found your blog from Megan Rathbone and I have to say it's one of my favorites! It's hilarious, encouraging, and challenging all in one.

Your running post has inspired me! So much so, that I'm finally leaving a comment, but I've been an anonymous blog stalker for quite some time...

Hope the training is going well!

kkrop said...

Neen! I am so excited for you! I think all your hard work in weight lifting 101 is going to pay off;) I can't believe how ambitious you are starting your first running program pushing 2 children! I can barely run without a stroller. Keep us posted on how it is coming!

Unknown said...

Yay! We can go running together next time I visit. If we're lucky, we'll even run into a britches-wearing faux-Brit in CW.

Erin said...

Nild,

1. It's in your genes. You ARE related to Ana. And just remember I went from the couch pot plan to a Half Marathon in a year's time back in '07. You're on the right track (pun intended).

2. Also - To quote a fav convo from SoCal Spring Break many years back...

Nina: "Where's Erika?"
Erin: "She's running."
Mariah, while eating Pop Tart: "I ran once. (Beat) I threw up after."

Molly said...

Nina, way to go! You know my mom didn't start running until she had us? Maybe run day you can run a marathon at 50...