Couch to 5K, Holding Myself Accountable

I played field hockey when I was in high school. I was never really good at it, but it was a sport, it kept me active, and I had fun doing it. In the grand scope of things, that is really all that matters. I remember pre-season, we would start practicing about two weeks before the school year started, right around my birthday. We would meet on the field for 2-3 hours of drills, scrimmages, and running. Lots of running. Most practices ended with a three mile run; through the neighborhoods around school, the cross-country trails through the woods, sometimes even right down Main Street to the neighboring town. Those runs were my favorite, the whole team would stop at Dairy Queen on the way back, but that is a different story for a different time. The point is, I could run. I was not the fastest, but I certainly had the endurance down. I could run three miles in about twenty minutes. I miss those days. When pre-season first started, my shins would scream and I would spend the remainder of the day discovering muscles in my legs I never realized I had. About a week to ten days in, I found my grove. I got to the point where my body would hit auto-pilot and I could just keep running for what seemed like forever.

Life went on, high school ended and field hockey ended with it. I tried to keep in shape in college and went for walks for miles at a time. I even went running a couple of times. Unfortunately, as a full time college student, my priority shifted from running to staying up late with friends and school work. All motivation to keep running went to the wayside. Then came my twenties, an abusive marriage, and a severe depression to go with it. My weight spiraled out of control. I wanted to take up running again, but I had no idea how to get back into it.

Source

Fast forward to now. I am in my thirties and happily married to my soul mate. Together, we have made the decision to get healthy. The first step was changing our diet, and exercising more. I have already noticed that I have significantly more energy than I did before, just with these first little changes. I have even started jogging with our dog, Dakota. I have noticed on Facebook that several of my friends have competed in 5k races, and I must admit that I am a tad bit jealous. Well, I decided it is time to do something about it. I posted on Facebook that I wanted to compete in a 5k, and multiple friends recommend the Couch to 5k program. It is a combination of walking and jogging that eases you into running a 5k in about two months. Today happens to be payday, so I will be treating myself to some new running clothes.

Tomorrow is the day I start running.

To up the ante, Color Me Rad is coming up to my neck of the woods in August. If I can commit to Couch to 5k for two weeks, I am going to register for Color Me Rad as motivation to finish the next 6 weeks, and beyond. It is posted to my blog now, so no looking back. I am going to do this, and it is going to be awesome.