I ran a mile and a half!

On August 1, 2010, I was a non-runner. I hated running. The idea of running was completely repulsive to me. If I was on fire and my only option for putting myself out was to run to a body of water fifty yards away, I'd have to seriously think about it.  Even in high school when we were required to run a mile for the Presidential Fitness tests, I walked the mile even though it meant a strong talking-to from my gym teacher.  I had long ago decided that I just wasn't cut out for running.

On August 8, 2010, I started running using the Couch to 5K program.  I don't know why, but something about the program drew me in and convinced me to give it a shot.  I still very vividly remember slogging myself up the block on that humid August evening for my first day of running.  It was hot, humid, pretty miserable, but not completely intolerable, and when I was done I felt accomplished.  I blogged about it.  And I stuck with it because it really wasn't that bad.  Every week, every session added a little more intensity, but I was able to keep up because the pace was not overly ambitious.

Yesterday I finished Week 5, Day 3 of the C25K program, which is the first run that I had really been dreading:  a twenty minute run with no breaks.  No resting, no stopping, no slowing, no quitting.  I didn't think I'd be able to do it, not on the first try.  But I did.  I ran twenty minutes without stopping.  In fact, I ran a little more than twenty minutes because I was so close to a mile and a half that I pushed myself a little extra for that goal.  And afterwards I felt fine.  No, I felt great. 

I can do this, guys.  I can.  I don't want to go so far as to say this is life-changing, but really, I feel great.  I feel like I can take on anything.  On days that I'm not running I feel like I'm missing out on something.  What a difference a few weeks makes.

I'm thinking about signing up for a 5K race in November.  I can't believe it, but I'd like to do it.  And beyond that?  Maybe a 10K someday.  The sky is the limit, isn't it?

I'm a runner.

Day Two, Week One: The belly of the beast.

I'm on Day Two, Week One of the Couch to 5K, and hot is an understatement. Also?  We don't have air conditioning, so I present to you, Exhibit A: our indoor/outdoor temperature thermostat:

That's 85.8 inside the house, 82 outside.  While that's not really that high of a number, do recall that unlike places like Arizona or New Mexico, we don't have any of that fabled "dry heat" here in Wisconsin.  We have wet heat.  Wet.  Hot.  Humid.  And it was after dark when I went for my run tonight - those are our nighttime temperatures.  Daytime would have been absolutely horrid.

But the bottom line is this:  I did it.  It wasn't much easier, but I did it.  I kept with it, even though the weather was against me.

Ahh.  Victory.  Now to repeat this pattern for the next nine weeks and beyond.

Day One, Week One: Stupid things to do on a hot day.

Only a complete and total fool would spend a sweltering summer day canning. And it would take a real jabbering moron to leave the kitchen and then go out for a long run. Only an utter buffoon would do such a ridiculously dumb thing.

So, today I decided it would be a great idea to can green beans with the new pressure canner and then start my Couch to 5K program. The pressure canner was easy to use, and the green beans look great. Pickyourown.org is a fantastic resource for all things canning, and it walked me through the green beans (and my first run with the pressure canner) quite handily.

As for the Couch to 5K, I did it: day one of week one is in the bag! In the big scheme of things, the first day is easy - lots of walking and not a lot of running. But every great journey begins with that first step. And to be honest, it wasn't easy for me. It was tough. For one, do I look like a woman who owns tennis shoes? The closest thing I had could best be described as skateboard shoes (they were cute, what can I say?) and while they weren't ideal, they were better than my next-best option: sandals.

But even beyond the inadequacies of my wardrobe, the actual program was brutally tough. By the end of my block I was already wondering why I promised myself I'd do this. I was warm, achy, and my skin was itchy from the heat. By seven minutes in I was sweating and my knees were shaking. But I pressed on, and I made it through the whole 31 minute program. Then I came in the house, sucked every drop of water out of the Brita pitcher, and took the coldest shower I have ever taken in my entire life. And it. felt. great.

My plan is to keep up the Couch to 5K program by running on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, RAIN OR SHINE, for the full nine weeks. I will keep tabs on myself by updating my blog (the Couch to 5K will get its own shiny new tab!) and by putting updates on Facebook and Twitter.

Look for another update on Tuesday. I am going to do this.