Couch to 5k Week 1 Run 1

I overslept my alarm this morning and woke up in a panic, I live in the South and pretty much any time past 8:30 am is unbearable. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), the morning stayed cool, so at 9:30 I set off for my first run of C25k. I wish I didn't have to write this, but ouch. I am WAY more out of shape than I thought. But, I finished, and I love the way I feel after I workout, so there you go. Step 1 (actually go for a run) in my goal to run a half-marathon: CHECK.

How was the run itself? Painful, but manageable. I figured practicing on a few hills could be a good, albeit painful thing. I stand by my decision, mainly because it allows me to believe that had I been running on a flat surface this run would have been a breeze.

But oh, I long for the air-conditioned gym of my college. It had TVs, and air conditioning, AND fans on the cardio machines. Heaven. Fortunately, a quick search of my future law school's gym shows me that I have much to look forward to. There are three gyms with cardio machines and an aquatic complex that looks like heaven. I'm already starting to see the advantages of the big time sports university...

Post Vacation Blues

So I got back from vacation yesterday, a vacation where I did not run at all and ate disgusting amounts of food. Then I got on the scale. I'm serious when I say no more. I'm tired of hating the way I look, of feeling unhealthy (like walking up more than one flight of stairs is a challenge), and I'm tired of never doing anything that I say I will. So I'm starting with week 1 of Couch to 5k because I think I need it, and I am going on a diet. I'm done saying that I'll do things and then not doing it. I'm ready for a change.

I hope.

The Inaugural Run

I may have been foolish this morning when I dragged my lazy bones out of bed and went for my first run. When I decided what I was going to do, I thought "Steph, you are a 21 year old relatively healthy young person, certainly you can start on week 3 of Couch to 5k." It turns out, however, that although I am young, I am not in the least bit healthy, and when I had to run three minutes, yes a measly THREE minutes I thought I was going to die. But I finished the run/walk of week 3 and thanks to geodistance.com, I learned that I walked/jogged (with an emphasis on walked) 1.75 miles. Oh dear. 1.75 miles of mainly walking and I feel like I may die. But the hardest part is starting, right?

When I got back to my house, I weighed myself, which was another oh dear but I actually can't bring myself to post the number. Suffice it to say, I have a long way to go, but on the bright side. I started this journey, and I refuse to let myself not see this through.

Week 3 of Couch to 5k, Run #1, total mileage: 1.75

My Inspirations

Obviously, the running should have started today. But it is roughly one billion degrees outside, and it was going to be in the 80s even early in the morning. A sign of how hot it is: my annoyingly run-happy boyfriend had no interest in running. His direct quote was "screw running, we can go next week." And so, I have decided to put running off until tomorrow (and so the putting off begins...). To be fair, running may not really start until next week since the aforementioned boyfriend and I are at a wedding this weekend. Hello open bar, goodbye running.

So with that in mind, I've decided to post about the things that have inspired me towards this ridiculous running goal. First, I have to mention my best friend M. M. is many things that I am not. Division I college athlete who actually has a national championship ring (seriously, you can't buy those things). Healthy eater. Avid exerciser. And oh yeah, while I am planning on starting law school this summer because a job seemed well...hard, she just moved to Mississippi to do Teach For America. So while I'm studying and drinking heavily to avoid the pain of law school, she will be changing the world. If that isn't inspiration to do something, even if it's just running, then I don't know what is.

The annoying run-happy boyfriend is another one. He runs a lot, and oh yeah, he's in the Army meaning that he too spends his life doing meaningful things aka defending my freedom to eat McDonalds while I do less meaningful things aka still sitting in bed watching Ally McBeal on Netflix and blogging.

And finally. This book. Life changing.

Seriously Dawn Dais is snarky which I love, a former couch potato which I love, and she also has a completely awesome website http://dreaminmotion.net/. So basically, I have loads of inspiration, and very little drive to actually act on my inspiration. But it will happen, just you wait--I've started a blog, running will clearly follow.

First Post

So I decided to start a blog. Truth be told, although I read a lot of blogs, starting one was never something I really had considered because the last blog that I tried to start, when I was abroad in Denmark, lasted one post. Yes, one post. It was fitting, as I have a long history of starting things and never finishing them (blogging about Europe, scrapbooking, losing weight, reading 30 minutes a day, watching less tv, saving money...the list goes on for a ridiculously long time, but you get the point).

Why now? Why am I trying to start this blog that will likely fail? Because I've made another goal, and that is to run a half marathon. (Insert ridiculous laughter from anyone who knows me). I fail at running. I try and try and try to start running plans, and I never make it past week 3. Like I said, I'm not good at accomplishing goals. To be totally fair to myself, I am good at accomplishing academic goals. Get into my first choice college. Check. Graduate from college and write an honors thesis. Check. Get accepted into law school. Check. But then I realized something: the drinking habits that I developed in college meant that I graduated college with an extra 35 pounds, effectively meaning that with my inability to accomplish anything other than academics, I am currently a chubby nerd. This is a problem. Combine that with the fact that I'm starting law school this fall and I'd really like to have something else in my life besides school, I decided to run a half marathon. For real this time. This blog will document my efforts. Probably.