My Journey from Couch to 5K ~ Get Fit

I have tried many times to "get fit" or start a workout plan and I never seem to stick to it. Usually what happens is that I work out super hard, putting everything I have into it and waking up the next morning hurting. Once that happens well I am sure you can guess what I do. Did you say nothing? or stop working out? You would be absolutely right.

I also find since I work shift work and now I work overnights it is really hard to figure out when to workout. Throw two kids, a dog, too many cats and a hubby in the mix and I don't know where to find enough time for everyone and everything that needs to get done.

I recently read Grace, Under Pressure (review coming soon) a super inspirational book from a women who is a mother to a daughter with Aspergers autism. Sophie Walker takes to running to stay healthy and sane. She even runs a marathon! This book had me really thinking about my own son and how much I love to get out and walk especially with our dog Molly and clear my head. It really helps with the day to day stress and over things that come up.

Since I am a person who needs tons of information I also decided to jump on my computer and look up running, remembering that I have heard of something called Couch to 5K. I posted on my Facebook as I know a few runners and was looking for tips. One blogger friend I met last year at Blissdom Canada also runs and has a child with Autism, Kirsten (RunningforAutism) gave me some great times on how to get started with running. She told me to remember to start slow, do reps of run/walk with a warm up and cool down. One thing people do is do too much too fast and get hurt or sore. Another friend (Tabitha) mentioned that she did the Couch to 5K and now runs all the time. She was never a runner before this.

I went in search for information on Couch to 5k and found that there are a few different free apps for the iPhone and lots of information online. I put the C25K app on my phone and started the program last Wednesday. It starts you off with a 5 minute warm up (brisk walking) moving to 60 seconds of jogging/running and then 90 seconds walking. Continue this until the cool down which is another 5 minutes of walking. Molly our beagle is also training with me and we are happy to say we have survived week one, moved along to week two and will be finishing week two today or tomorrow. Week two involves a warm up (5mins) then run 90 seconds, walk 2 minutes for 20 minutes then a 5 minute cool down.

This program is 8 weeks long and I am to run 3 times a week for a 30 minute workout. Each week I will post how the runs are going and if I feel I can more on to the next week. I will post challenges I have facing, or any changes I am feeling. After running almost two weeks I already feel more energized and have only had one day were I have felt like not running because I was tired. I decided it didn't matter if I was tired or not I still need to stick with it and more forward to achieve my goal of running 5K someday very soon.

Are you a runner? What tips do you have for a beginner?