I decided, in order to hold myself more accountable, I will publicly blog about my experience doing the "Couch to 5K" program.
Some background:
I have never been a "running person." In fact, I have always been one of those people who say running is one of the things I hate the most. I was mildly overweight ever since 3rd grade, and by the time I entered middle school, I was in the "definitely overweight" category. However, in 8th grade, by some spark of motivation, I decided enough was enough and lost 40 lbs, so I was back at a normal weight (first time I had been "normal" since I was 7).
I was always tall for my age and by the time I hit 5'6.5 sometime in middle school, I never grew any taller. Since I lost those 40 lbs, my weight has fluctuated 10 or 15 lbs. Right now is one of those times that I am +15 lbs. I would LOVE to get back down to my 8th grade weight, because I felt very healthy then, but I am finding it harder and harder to do.
I don't believe doing the C25K program will necessarily make me lose weight. I don't think I burn enough calories doing a roughly 2.5 mile jog 3 times a week for this to make a big difference in my appearance (unfortunately). What I am hoping that this program will do is make me a healthier, happier person, and I have the objective goal of being able to run 30 mins straight.
I know running is one of the best things I can do to increase my cardiovascular endurance - which is something I desire from this program. I want to make my heart stronger and lower my resting heart rate. My body just gets exhausted so quickly when I run, so I know it is a weak area of mine. I hope that this program is gradual enough that I will be able to build up my heart strength and endurance progressively, with tangible results. I live in Colorado and my husband an I like to hike. We have already climbed up several fourteeners together, and I'd like to do more. I believe this training will help me conquer fourteeners faster as well.
And finally, although I am not now, I would just love to be one of those people who love running! It's such good exercise and it's so easy! Just go outside! No gym equipment required. If I could learn to love running, this is something I could keep up for the rest of my life.
My stats:
- I don't have any "official" stats for myself. I hated running before this so my times are slow.
- I've run a full mile just a handful of times in my life. I think my best time was around 10 mins. It practically killed me to run a full mile without stopping so forgive me for not "tracking" my mile time before this program. At this point, I just rather not. :-)
- My "running pace" to actual runners would probably be considered a "light jog"
- I've done one 5K before, and that was in high school. I think I literally finished 3rd to last. Yep. No joke.
My equipment:
- iPhone with the "5K Runner" app that I paid $2.50 for
- It tells me exactly what I need to do each day, and has an audible trainer voice and timer that will tell you when to run and walk.
- MapMyRun app - to show me how far I've gone and how long it took. Also my mile split pace.
- Music on iPhone
Well, enough talk. Let's get to running!
C25K Week 1
C25K Week 2
C25K Week 3
C25K Week 4
C25K Week 5
C25K Week 6
C25K Week 7
C25K Week 8
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