Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Emily's Intro

In 2011 we started the Couch to 5k running program.  I was NEVER a runner, heck I wouldn't even consider myself athletic.  I was in dancing in grade school, but did not play any sports in high school or college.  I've always enjoyed walking, but never even thought about running.  We typically walk our two dogs 5 days a week, anywhere from 2 to 2 1/2 miles.  So, sometime last year, around September, we decided to try the C25K program.  It was a bust!  I couldn't do it.  It was too hard.  We were running with the dogs, and my 8 year old heeler knows two speeds:  walking and running (fast).  So I never really got a good pace; I was always trying to keep up with her.  Somewhere around week 2, I gave up and quit.  

Well, in the springtime of this year, I began traveling a good bit with my job.  And traveling for me always equals weight gain.  To combat this, I began an interval running program on the treadmill.  Basically, you walk slow at a high incline for 1 minute, brisk walk at medium incline for 1 minute, and slow jog at low incline for 1 minute.  There are 12 of these intervals, with a warm-up and cool-down.  In the beginning, I could only do about half of the running.  I would finish the program, but would walk the rest of the time.  Over a couple of weeks I worked myself up to completing the entire routine.  I would do this treadmill routine sporadically.  My goal was three times per week, but I rarely achieved it.  

The first week of October, Nick and I decided to give the C25K one more shot.  We were still walking the dogs regularly, 5-6 days per week.  I am determined this time.  I began looking at races as a motivator for us to finish the program.  

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