NOT a Sporty Girl

No.  I'm not.  I did not participate in any high school sports.  I was a ballerina drop out.  And  tennis.  And gymnastics.  I'm sure there's more.   Technically, I stuck it out with soccer for a while when I was a kiddo, but I was really afraid of the ball hitting me.  In the face.  Don't get me wrong, though.  I've been active throughout my life.  I enjoy walking and strength training, as well as yoga, biking, and cross-country skiing.  But anything truly strenuous is not my thing.   

However, I am overweight; obese if you look at one of those chart thingies.  I walk.  Thirty to sixty minutes every day.  I am mindful of my diet.  Yet I struggle to shed these pounds that I've gained.  You'd be shocked to know that I've gained around 50 lbs (in 5 years) while teaching in my neighboring town.  Yep.  So instead of complaining about it and having a pity party I decided to do something. 

So what does a non-sporty girl do to drop the weight?  Run.  I've never run before in my life.  I had friends who were cross country runners.  My hubby is an ex ball player (running involved), and I've walked in every race that I've ever entered.  Running is really a long shot for me.  But I figured that in conjunction with my strength training routine it would help me kick my metabolism (thanks thyroid) in the ass.  

I remember a few years back when I first met my friend, who introduced me to PodCasting, she mentioned doing the Couch to 5k to get her back into her running routine.  At the time it was a PodCast and may still be available as one.  About two weeks ago I decided to look into it and found something that I'm pretty happy.  You'd be surprised to know that I did not find this gem on Pinterest ☺, I found it in the app store. 

Sadly, I don't have an iPhone so I have to do some finagling to get the running done with the suggested times.  But I just use a stopwatch on my Droid and I can listen to my local radio station while running.  When I get home I check off that I did it and post my success to Facebook.  I'm not one of those people who likes to post everything to Facebook, but for this I am for a couple of reasons.  It's offered, and has little motivational badges for you to earn throughout the training.  It keeps me honest:  telling people what I'm doing holds me accountable.  My friend is vaca-ing in the Cape and running along with me, so it makes it easier for us to motivate each other.  

I really like how it alternates running and walking to work your body (and lungs) up to running for longer periods of time.  On the 1st day, after finishing the 4th 1 minute run I felt like puking.  But on that same day, by the 6th 1 minute run I felt like I could've kept going.  On the 2nd day I thought I'd puke on the 6th 1 minute run, and by the 3rd day I no longer had the urge to purge.  

Water...I don't bring any with me, because I'm only out there for 30 minutes, but there have been a few days (like today) when I did not drink enough before lacing up.  Sometimes it's because I don't drink enough throughout the night.  I wake up thirsty and for some dumb reason ignore my thirst.  I pay for it the next day I run.  Big mistake!

Tissues should probably be a staple in my water bottle holder (that I use to hold my cell phone), but I keep forgetting them.  This has nothing to do with running & everything to do with the sinus problems I've been having since the school year ended.  But....It really helps to blow before you go.

At first I downloaded the free version but quickly downloaded the paid free version because I was loving it!  I can't help but share this pin.  It sums up how my Couch to 5K buddy & I think we look while we run.   But we love how we feel!