I'm new to this whole blogging thing, so I'm just going to jump right in. See, I should have started this blog like 8 weeks ago. Better late than never, I guess! I'm also probably breaking some rule about introducing myself or something, but oh well, I'm new so that can be my excuse. Let's just suffice it to say this. I'm Jen, a 33 year-old wife and mom of 5 kids. I'll get into the family stuff later, I'm sure. I went crazy approximately 2 months ago. It started a little like this....
I went in for my mandatory meeting with the health coach assigned to me in order to get better rates for our health insurance. His name is Josh, and he is generally a pretty decent guy...even if I do find these things to be a total waste of my time. It was a Friday, April 26th if I remember correctly. The conversation went a little like this:
Josh: So what are you thinking about doing for your health classes this year? (We have to do 2 per year and they are beyond lame.)
Me: Um, I don't know. My husband mentioned something about how we can do a 5K and it counts as a class, is that true?
Josh: Sure, there are 2 options - June 15th or June 22nd.
Me: I think I'll do the 22nd, I'll be at Disney for the other one.
Josh: Okay, and how do you plan to prepare for this race?
Me: Oh, I'm going to do Couch to 5k program.
Josh: Oh that's a great program! So you'll run 3 times a week to prepare, we can use that for your health goal too.
Me: That sounds good. I think I can do that.
And the conversation went on.....
What the hell was I thinking? And where on earth did the idea of Couch to 5k even come from? I swear, this was not something that was even a little bit premeditated. It just happened, sort of like verbal diarrhea. The words just came out of my mouth and I had no control. In that short exchange, I had not only committed to running 3.1 miles in a race, I also committed to actually train for that race. Seriously folks, this is the day I started to lose my mind. It was all downhill from there.
The next day, a Saturday, I trotted my happy ass down to JC Penney's and bought some lovely new shoes. I got some running capris from Kohl's and figured I was good to go. My mom came shopping with me. She humored me, but I knew she was thinking I was nuts and would give up soon, so the money spent would be a waste. That night, I downloaded the RunDouble C25K program on my phone. My husband laughed when I told him I was going to run the next day. This pretty much pissed me off. Husbands can be good at that, I think.
Sunday, April 28th...we'll call this the official beginning of the madness. I decided to go to Mullally Park to run, since they have a nice paved walking/running trail. I put the earbuds in, pushed start on my app. and began what I called my first torture session. It sounds easy in theory - Brisk five-minute warm up walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Finish with a 5 minute cool down walk - nothing too strenuous, right? Um, yeah...not so much. I'll be honest. I spent most of my first day, heck most of my first few weeks, trying to convince myself 2 things.
1. This will not kill me.
2. I can do this.
When the lady on my phone told me to "Slow to an easy pace to cool down" I wanted to kiss her square on the mouth. I can only recall a few times when I've felt more relieved than when I finished that very first "run". I was exhausted and mentally celebrating the fact that I didn't give myself a heart attack and die. I did it, and although it seriously felt like torture, I felt a strange sense of pride for not giving up. I think it was that tiny glimmer of pride that made me run against the next day, and then finish week 1 that Wednesday.
I learned quickly that this running thing was NOT easy, and I had thoughts of quitting multiple times. My muscles protested this new activity that required them to actually work. I suppose that is what happens when you don't intentionally exercise for years and then decide to suddenly take up running. Still, legs aching, I kept going. There was something motivating about overcoming my desire to quit and making it through those torture sessions. So, I kept running...and with those runs, I lost my mind a little bit at a time.
No comments:
Post a Comment