As you may know, I have been struggling to lose the 20 pounds that I gained back and a few more. Ugh. It’s a never-ending battling sometimes.
You may also remember that I’ve recently been chosen to be a Shaklee 180 blogger but we all know that diet alone won’t drop the weight that you want as quickly as you would like. I need to get off the couch. I admit it, I hate exercise. I really, really do. I know that I’m not alone in this either. We have become an incredibly sedentary society and I am not going to pretend that I’m not also guilty. I have lots of excuses, though. Good ones, too. Ok, they’re good at the time but are really quite lame.
I have been thinking about starting the Couch to 5k program since I have a few friends that have done it and some of them are even as *ahem* athletic as I am! I’ve always wanted to get into running. I long to be one of those people who enjoys it and looks forward to a daily run. Our new house is right next to an open space with a trail and I think I’m going to do it. To keep myself motivated I would love to get a heart rate monitor like the Polar RCX 5 and become a real runner! One that looks forward to running. Maybe. I hope.
Have you tried Couch to 5k? Did it work for you and make you like, or at least tolerate running?
5 comments
I thought about doing c25k when I first started, but I didn’t. I don’t even know why. I’ve heard so many great things about it. What I did do, I stopped making excuses. It is REALLY hard at first. I couldn’t run longer than 60 seconds or so and then I walked for about 5 minutes, and those 60 second intervals were the worst. Now I can run 10 miles and I only stop to walk if I have to pee. I like to set little mini goals for myself each day and reach them. For example, while I’m running I always hit a wall after a couple of miles. I feel like crap and I just want to stop. The excuses kick in, such as, my knee hurts, my ankle hurts, my lungs hurt (I was a smoker for 10 years), it’s cold, it’s hot. I pretty much have to tell myself to knock it off, and that’s the point where I make my goal. I say, “if I can run 7 miles I’ll stop and go home and feel great about myself.” That may sound like a lot to you, but when I first started it was “If I can make it to that light post, I’ll let myself walk a little.” From there the distances got further and further until one day I ran 3 miles straight and I was so proud of myself I wanted to scream! If you really want to be a runner, you CAN. Be consistent and make goals.
This is excellent motivation. It’s so easy to feel like you can’t do it (guilty) but that is an amazing accomplishment! Thank you
I love Couch to 5K and would totally recommend it. My husband and I have done it 3 times now. (It seems every time we built up to 5K something happened- pregnancy, winter weather, etc.) It’s really nice not to have to think too much when you are out, and just rely on the “dings” to tell you when to start walking or running. I loved that it got me from barely able to run to running for 20 minutes straight without too much suffering (it’s still a lot of work, but it’s doable). And if you get to a day which is just too hard, you can repeat the previous run instead, until you feel like you’ve mastered it and are ready to move to the next step. I used to hate running too, but now I’ve grown to almost like it, 😉
This is what I need to hear. It sounds like a fantastic program and I have known several people who have done it but I don’t know if anyone has stuck with it for the long haul. Running for 20 minutes is great!
I use to walk a mile a day I have cerebral palsy now at 60 years old I can not walk at all