Running….I’ve never really been a big fan.  It’s hard on the legs and knee joints.  I’m tired at the end and after doing it a few times something comes up and I don’t get back to it.  I don’t mind the running on a treadmill because it is a lot easier than running on the road; the treadmill helps you along – the road doesn’t.  Until….

One day I was visiting with friends.  We just finished an exciting game of…well that is not important!  But it was a fun game 🙂  My friend Julie told us about a new app she got for her iPhone.  Couch to 5k.  Hmmm…sounds interesting.  Sure I’ll do that with you!  Another friend, Sue, decided to join us.  I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into, but I was soon to find out.

Basically you have a warm up and cool down of 5 min.  We walk during this time.  Then each week the running (well I would call it jogging) increasing each week.  Week 1 we jogged for 60 seconds and then walked for 90 minutes.  Week 2 we jogged for 90 seconds and walked for 2 minutes.  It was great!  We were on a role and so proud of ourselves!  But….

One of the girls injured her foot.  No more running for a bit…
I got sick.  Still no running for a bit…
Two weeks had gone by with no running.

People would probably say that this is the breaking point for if we would continue or if we would give up.  Let’s say we are determined to finish! 

We finished Week 3 on Friday!  Jogging 3 minutes and walking 3 minutes.  At first I thought it was hard, but it really helps to have the walking break in between the jogs. 

One thing I love about the app, it tells you when to run and when to walk.  You hear, “Run now!”  then, “Walk Now”.  And of course Julie lets us know how long is left in the jog.  “One minute left!”   “Only thirty seconds!”  Believe me when I say that sometimes those last thirty seconds feel a lot longer then they should!

Now we are on Week 4.  Jog 5 minutes and walk 3 min (I think).  I actually thought it was going to be a lot harder then I thought.  I thought I would be totally out of breath and not able to make it the full 5 minutes, but I made it through.  We all made it through.  We are not running, we are jogging.  We are not jogging hard, but we are jogging and we are proud to be on the journey.

We wonder what it will do to us, besides build up our confidence and get us in shape.  I wonder sometimes why after two weeks of running in the evening we chose to wake up at 6am two days of the three that we run.  I’m not a morning person and I actually have the morning off on those two days.  What was I thinking.  Although, it does get me up early in the morning.  The first day we ran at 6am I ran (of course), had breakfast, cleaned, and showered all before 7:30am.  Wow.  I didn’t realize how much you can get done so early in the morning before everyone else woke up!

Tomorrow morning we will be at it again.  At the end of the day that we run at 6am I have forgotten that we ran and think that I should do it again but then I remember that I ran and I feel good.  They say that women accomplish exercise best if they do it in the morning.  I definately agree with that, even if I’m not a morning person.  It’s done and out of the way. 

If you want to run and it’s not your favourite thing in the world then find someone to run with you.  There are days I would have chosen to stay in bed or sat in front of the TV if I didn’t have Julie and Sue to run with!  Thanks ladies!

Want a challenge…try Couch to 5k.  Check out http://felttip.com/c25k/

Starting to like running,
Jackman <