Continuing to Start

Forgive me for another exercise post, but I think writing about it may keep me motivated to keep going.

 

This photo was not taken today, but it seemed fitting.

Today was definitely harder than Monday, if only because  I knew how much it was going to hurt, and how uncomfortable I wouldbe. But still – I didit. I even passed someone on one of my “jogging” intervals which amazed me.

For those who don’t know, Couch to 5k is a program to get you off the couch and slowly train you to run 5k (a pretty standard race distance). For week one, I’m supposed to jog/run for 60 seconds, then walk briskly for 90 seconds, repeating this for 20 minutes (plus warm up and cool down). I’m using an app on my phone called RunDouble to keep track of the intervals – a weird sounding computer woman tells me to run and walk at the correct times, so I don’t have to keep staring at my watch.

I won’t lie. Sixty seconds of jogging? Feels like an eternity. The only thing that saved me a couple of times today was a good song in my earphones (“Xanadu” – no, I’m not kidding) and kind of looking ahead on the track to give myself a distance goal. Like, “Hey, I bet I’ll finish this interval at that bench. No, wait, that street light.” Then I’d get a little jolt of satisfaction when I reached that spot and the woman tells me I can start walking again.

I know I’m going to have to do week one for a few weeks to build up my endurance. I seriously cannot even comprehend jogging more than a minute at a time, or even going faster than the snail’s pace I’m keeping now. But at least I’m doing it, right? Right! Onward!

Filed in: Health