Couch to 5K Training

Future Runner?  Not quite.

I decided that I would start my Couch to 5K (C25K) training today and try to keep my sessions scheduled for Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  Today is day 1.  Here are some facts: 

Today is: Sunday, January 13th

Time of run: noon'ish'

Temperature: 27 degrees

Wait..... let's stop there for a second.  TWENTY-SEVEN (27) Degrees?!!  What was I thinking?!

Please note: "Feels Like" 14 degrees.   It's a good thing I didn't look at this until after I got home, or there is no way my happy butt would have left the couch and the romance novel I've been reading.

So, in my head I was thinking.. "Day 1, surely it will go be pretty simple and ease me in slowly." I was wrong. Perhaps for the people who haven't been active for only the past 6 months it would have been considered simple.  But for me and my completely out of shape, haven't really worked out in a couple of years, body - It. Was. Torture. 

I've got to be completely honest with y'all (and myself).  I did not do the first workout exactly as designed.  Day 1 is supposed to be a 5 minute warm up, then alternating 90 seconds walking, 60 seconds jogging for 20 minutes, then a 5 minute cool down.  30 minutes total.

Understandably, the warm up and cool down - I got perfect ;)  The jogging... well, I only jogged 3 of the times the lady told me to.  But I did keep up the jog for the full 60 seconds, which I'm calling a "win", even though the overall workout wasn't quite a success. I'm not sure I would have been any more successful if it were warmer out, but I can say that the extra cold and piercing air didn't make it any easier to breathe.

I went to my town's park where they have a decent running trail.  Part of it is a little scary, so I kept to the more public space.  I was the only one on the trail, but there was a man with a metal detector and a small shovel (weird). During my cool down, I snapped a few pictures of the lackluster scenery.

Playground in the distance. No kids are playing though,
because it is.... twenty-seven degrees!

Glad I'm making use of my tax dollars

As for my attire... So remember, I got the sports bra (Moving Comfort is the brand in case you are wondering) - it worked perfectly. I have a large chest, so this is a big deal.  I sported my armband for my iPhone. This worked great too. I listened to the C25K lady talk me through when to walk and when to jog (even though I didn't listen every time).  Shoes - I'm impressed so far, no real issues.

Here's where I failed.  Pants.  I don't own any jogging pants or wind breakers. So, I thought I'd wear some sweats.  The sweats I wore are capri length.  So, I put on some tights (that are meant to be worn with my work dresses) thinking that would help keep me warm.  Nope.  Even though they aren't see through, the wind managed to make its way through those stitches with no problem!

Here's a shot of my black tights. Not exactly the coverage I needed.

My next decision is whether I will be working out before or after work. 

As far as timing goes, I feel like I should work out before work - that would get it out of the way and hopefully make for a more productive day.  The biggest issue with this (aside from waking up early) is that the sun hasn't been rising until well after 7am.  That means I'd be running in the dark.

Running in the dark poses several safety issues, but one that sticks out in my head is this....

This creek is very close to the running trail.  Two things: One: I don't want to get off course and accidentally fall in this thing. Two: I don't want someone to attack me and dispose of my body in the creek.

These are the things that go through my head folks. Sick - I know.  So, unless I can talk Ashley into waking up early and joining me... I may have to stick to evening workouts.


More C25K training updates to come.  Hopefully sharing my stories will help keep me accountable.