Couch Potato No More

Sadly, I'm a total couch potato. I can sit on the couch and do nothing for hours thanks to Pinterest, blogs, and Friday Night Lights. I've always wanted to be more active and I'd love to be one of those people who run because it feels good (versus feeling like a slow, painful death), who run when they're stressed so they feel better, and who get energized from running. I am definitely not one of those people yet, but I'm working on it.

I found out three weeks ago about the Couch to 5k program. Nine weeks from not running at all to running three miles. The program sounded perfect for me. I've tried in the past to just get out there and start running, and its always ended with me in pain and swearing off running forever. Enter the Couch to 5K. Each week, you do intervals of walking and jogging until you're ready to run three miles. These last two weeks were slightly challenging, but I always felt great afterwards. Today was a different story. Today, the program got serious about running and added almost double the running from last week. I wanted to quit, to lay down and never get up, but thankfully I have a very encouraging running partner (who happens to push two kids in a stroller while running, so I need to stop whining).

Melanie and I were meeting up a few times per week to go walking in the mornings. She teaches Stroller Strides and is in better shape than I am. But we'd meet up, walk and talk for about an hour, and then play at the park with her kids. When I found out about the Couch to 5K program, I mentioned it to her and told her I thought we could do it. She loved the idea and mentioned she'd always wanted to get into running, since her husband runs and her sister is training for a half marathon. So for the past three weeks, we've been slowly preparing for a 5K at the end of September, the VMC 5K. Its perfectly timed for the end of our nine week training. I'm excited. I'm nervous I won't be ready in time. I'm doubting that I'll even finish the training and do the 5K. I'm proud of myself for running at least three times each week for the last three weeks. I'm so, so glad to be running with Melanie, who always gives me pep talks and won't let me take a break.

If I've learned anything, its that running with a partner is the absolute best accountability. Its so easy to skip running when its just me, but when I've got plans to meet Melanie, I can't skip it. If I can do this, anyone out there can do this. Find a partner, look up the running plan, and just go!

Motivation found here, here, here and here (but all via Pinterest).