Disclaimer: These are not my legs.
I’ve begun to run.
This is huge, because I’m made of blubber and fat and mostly squishy things.
I’ve attempted to run before but it hasn’t gone well. And actually, it wasn’t so much “running” as “jogging from one light post to another and then walking the rest of the way”. But now my endeavor is far more epic. I’m doing Couch to 5K.
For those of you unawares, I’m 1) happy to be a source of constant education for you and 2) happy to tell you that Couch to 5K is a running schedule that takes couch potatoes and whips them into being able to run for 30 minutes straight (or the distance of a 5K) in 9 weeks. You don’t pay for it. It’s just a program someone whipped up and decided to share. And it turns out it’s been effective for lots of folks.
I absolutely hate running. I hate it with the fire of a thousand suns. But one cannot deny that I am startlingly out of shape and in need of emergency intervention. After all, a child was just put into foster care by a state here in the good ol’ US of A for being morbidly obese. If the nation is going to start sweeping up all the fatties and placing them into programs against their will, I’m going to have to get on the trim trolley. And surprisingly enough, I kind of enjoy this. All I have to do is download a podcast that has music that fits the interval I’m on, and a dude’s voice that tells me when to walk and when to run. There’s something about it that’s really satisfying, aside from the feeling that I want to hurl and my loud pleas with God to please make it stop.
People tend to stare.
Dave has kindly decided to join me. He’s in much better shape than me since he’s a black belt in ninja studies and he does me the favor of allowing me to set the pace. But since that bores him, he side steps and twirls around me while I struggle. It’s an interesting dance: ballerino meets wildebeest.
I’ve had this sort of revelation. There are two different kinds of endeavors in my world. There are the things I want to do and give a shot, not caring if I make it to the end and willing to stop at any point I please (P90X, biting my nails, general acts of adulthood) and then there are things that I make stick, regardless. Like this blog. This is a no-excuses sort of deal. I do it every day regardless of whether I’m inspired, feeling entertaining, have had anything interesting happen for the past two weeks, am sleep deprived, grumpy, or have all my fingers chopped off. It happens. It’s a force beyond me and there is no negotiation. I simply decided to do it and kept doing it. This is a sort of… trial. What if I apply that thinking to other areas of my life? Just simply do it because I’ve decided to do it. In a blogging way, not in a ho-hum-maybe-I’ll-stop-when-I-want-way.
This could be a powerful unlocking of the psyche. It’s also a good excuse to don a Jackie Blog shirt at a 5K.
And so it commences: the flight of the wildebeest. ♣
I owe you an update. Long ago in a land far away, I started the search for the best macaroni and cheese recipe ever. I’m still cooking, and still eating. I don’t have much father to go, but each recipe is about a pound of pasta and there are only two people in my apartment. It’s taking a while. That being said, the Martha Stewart recipe is the front runner at the moment – but I have a promising recipe yet to be carried out. A $25 Visa Gift Card is on its way to a lucky reader in the month of December. Here’s hoping it’s you!
The Jackie Blog 
way to go! i just started spinning classes at the gym and hope to supplement with couch to 5k on my off days….
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SUPPLEMENT?! Wow. Go you. Seriously.
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I did the same program and I absolutely hate running. But it works, I ran a 5k and ran the whole thing. Now I hate running just a touch less. Good Luck to you! Going from week 4 to 5 if I remember correctly is quite a shock but totally doable.
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ahah going from Week 1 to 2 is going to be a shock. And 2 to 3. And so on. Lord be with me.
Thanks for sharing – it’s nice to hear from a fellow run-hater.
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Believe it or not, I started with the Couch-to-5k program too. That was roughly 3 years ago. Running, getting fit and truly owning your body will absolutely change your life. I know this.
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NO! Seriously? I thought I was going to get so much flack from you on this 😉 Three years ago and you still run and such. Were you an actual couch potato like me or were you just an occasional exerciser?
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Definitely a couch potato. Never played any sports in school and the thought of actually being good at athletics didn’t occur to me. It was video games all day erryday.
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so I have hope 🙂
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Good luck! I have a friend that did that recently with a group of friends and she really enjoyed the experience.
I say, check out The Primal Blueprint and free yourself from the idea that chronic exercise is the only way to be fit. It may take some re-engineering of your perceptions about food and nutrition, but the benefits far outweigh the mental heartache of giving up foods that ultimately are poisoning us. Ever since we went primal last spring I stopped counting calories (finally!) and I’ve dropped to a weight I’ve never seen as an adult, and have more energy. We still indulge in non-primal things but we have such a better understanding of what fuels our bodies more effectively and how low intensity workouts like walking are just as effective, if not better, than high intensity things like running. Just my two cents.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
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Thanks a lot for sharing! I like reading up on stuff like this lately. I don’t know what it was about those food production documentaries I watched a few weeks ago, but I’m just a little food information sponge right now. Appreciate the link!
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I can’t run at all. I could walk for miles and miles and miles and never tire, but once I start even the slowest of pathetic jogs, I go about 15 feet and stop. So I’m really proud of you for doing this. Good for you!
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Thanks Peg. 🙂 Out of curiosity – have you attempted since you lost the weight of an entire young human from your body? 🙂
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Yup. Just a few weeks ago when I was walking out in nature, far from the prying eyes of any but small, woodland creatures, I gave it a try. After about 10, awkward, flat-footed gallumping steps, I stopped.
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that’s a bummer – but hey… you don’t need to run now that you’re svelte 😉
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Ah, running… I used to run, I did the 5k many years ago to prove that I was getting better from my ME. I don’t really enjoy running although I did like using a cross trainer machine at the gym when I remembered to go! My hips really don’t like running 😦
Good luck to you.
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It’s killer – hard on the joints and all. I’ve only survived the first week – I have 8 to go. Eek! 🙂
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