Fitness

A few weeks ago I started the Couch to 5K running program. I wound up doing week 1 twice, because I was so out of shape that I couldn’t actually run all eight 60-second intervals for the first week. :P

But I did the first day of week 3 today, and…it didn’t kill me!

However, at the end of this program I won’t be anywhere near actually running 5 kilometers (or, for those of us who struggle with metric, 3 miles) in the alloted 30 minutes, because that would require me to run at 6 miles per hour. Um. I have to admit that I can’t even run at a full 4 miles per hour, I’m running at a really pathetic 3.7 miles per hour. I think turtles run faster than that. But at least I’m jogging, right?

I think I must be completely insane, but I decided to start a running program. I found some podcasts for the couch to 5K program, loaded up the first week on my ipod, and hit the gym this morning. I think it will probably take me more than the nine weeks to complete it though, because I couldn’t really run for the full 60 seconds for all eight intervals for this beginning week. Maybe I’ll count this as week 0.5 and do week 1 again next week?

Anyway, I managed to survive it, so that’s encouraging. I’m tentatively thinking that instead of walking in this years’ Barktober Fest, if I can really manage to stick with this program, maybe I’ll be able to do the 5K run. Oops, I just realized it says 5 miles NOT 5 kilometers…maybe I could still work up to that?

Yep. That proves it. I’m insane. What on earth am I thinking?!?

I went back to they gym today. It’s been nearly a month – I think I went once in December. I did their core training class, which I’ve only done once before – somehow it’s really hard to get to the gym, drop Carrie in the child-care room, and stash my bag in a locker before 9:45. Anyway. I can already tell that I’m not going to be able to move tomorrow. Ibuprofen is my friend…

I actually couldn’t wait to get back. I didn’t gain too terribly much weight over the holidays – only maybe a couple of pounds – but the scale definitely was going in the wrong direction! I’m thinking I’ll try to lose 5 pounds this month. That’s a really reasonable goal, which I can easily accomplish putting in some time at the gym and avoiding soda and carby snacks. I’m not going to think beyond those 5 pounds and get overwhelmed by the rest of the weight I have to lose, that’s something I can worry about later.

This morning I tried out the incline treadmill at the gym. The trainer wants me to walk at a 30° incline for 20 minutes at 2 miles per hour. Hah! I managed to alternate between 10° and 15°, with a minute or so of 20° thrown in there – all at 2 miles per hour at least. But I walked for 25 minutes, burned 186 calories, and ascended the equivalent of 407 vertical feet over .79 miles. Think I’m ready to climb Mt. Everest? Kidding!

And then, because I hadn’t punished my legs enough, I suggested we walk to the playground at the school after dinner. So I felt justified in splitting a strawberry italian ice with Carrie when we got home. ;)

I joined a gym. Again. Only this time, I was smart about it. I usually join, exercise aimlessly, see no results after what I think is long enough, and then lose motivation. So, this time I shelled out the $$ for a few personal training sessions. This way, I’ll have a plan for every time I go to the gym, hopefully tailored enough to my goals to show some results in a reasonable period of time.

My goals? Well, losing weight would be nice. Fitting into my clothes would be nicer. And even though I’m below my pre-pregnancy weight, I’d like to get enough below it before having another baby to not even see this number again on the scale the day before my due date. (If it’s the same weight gain as with Carrie, that would be somewhere between 30-40 pounds.) I’ve always wondered if the pregnancy-induced hypertension could have been avoided if I hadn’t been quite so overweight from the start (the OB said it could have been a factor, but wasn’t the only factor). If/when we have another baby on the way, I don’t want to have to put Carrie through 6 weeks of me being on bedrest if I can avoid it.

The other thing is, even though I strive to have a positive body image to be a good role model for Carrie, the bottom line is that I don’t like how I look. I hate that I can’t wear cute and trendy clothes. I don’t want to diet (beyond obviously making good choices and controlling how much I eat) because I don’t want Carrie to think dieting is good, or even necessary. So the only way I’m going to lose weight and feel better about myself is to move. A lot. It’s going to be a lot more work than I want. But hopefully it will actually work this time. I haven’t decided how much I’m going to actually blog about – the actual number on the scale right now, while not my heaviest non-pregnancy weight – is embarrassing, but we’ll see. Maybe some incredibly raw honesty with the entire internet will be enough to keep me motivated?

My first session is Friday morning. I went today and walked for 20 minutes on the treadmill, and burned 103 calories. And since I got an herbal iced tea instead of a sugary coffee drink at Sit & Knit tonight, that’s an extra bonus, right?