I started the Couch to 5K running program a couple months ago. Did week 1 a few times over. Never seemed to manage to run the suggested three times a week. I'm still letting work get in the way of every aspect of my life. Also, my treadmill has been broken for nearly two months now. With winter and spring duking it out the past month, getting outside to run was challenging. I hate cold so very much.
The whole idea started at the end of last year when it finally dawned on me my 40th birthday was coming up quickly. After I got over the depression and regret of wasting so many years in sloth and gluttony, I decided to start my forties on the right foot. The starting wasn't too much of a problem. The continuing always is.
Goals have always helped, and I knew I wanted to run (I use the word "run" very loosely in relation to myself) the Race for the Cure again. My aunt had a double mastectomy last summer, so it was even more important to me to run the whole thing for the second time in my life. But I was already behind schedule, and then my treadmill broke. I lost focus. My job had me crying again. My ultimate goal of not being a cow at 40 ran off ahead without me.
I needed help. My previous running partners were as out of shape as I was and were less driven than I was. Running dates were consistently broken, and I used that as an excuse to sit on the couch myself. John certainly wasn't interested in joining me and seems to eat crappier by the mere mention of it. Booie has made it clear she does not want to run. Hammy toys with the idea but would rather spend the time playing hockey. I was truly alone when it came to partners.
The next form of assistance... gadgets. I have a lovely heart rate monitor, but the battery died, and I have to send it out for battery replacement. Considering I have a package sitting in my bedroom from three years ago to mail to my friend in Nebraska, the likelihood of getting that done is slim. Sometimes you just have to know yourself. Sure, it would cost much less to send the HR monitor away, but it lacked the excitement of something new and had the burden of going to the post office. Might as well expect me to chew off a leg to lose weight.
I have thought about getting a bodybugg since before they were using them on the Biggest Loser. I read about it somewhere, but at that time, the price tag was ridiculous. It's not great now, but the bugg is slimmer, and you can get a digital display with it, so you don't have to upload your data to know what's going on throughout the day. I found a sale where you got both for about $300. After overthinking it for a month or so, I took the plunge.
Nothing has ever made me keep track of my food like this thing has. Being obsessed with numbers and things being right and accurate, I couldn't just wear the bugg and have it tell me how many calories I burned. The weekly results wouldn't be accurate unless I kept up with entering my food. If you were a betting person, I would have told you to bet against me keeping a food log. Chances of winning the Powerball are higher. Until now. I have done it for 7 weeks straight--even when I ate big fat fatty McDonald's meals. And I have lost weight every single one of those weeks, though this past week was only a half pound. Still, it's the most success I ever had without starving myself. (Which I don't recommend. My metabolism has been crap ever since.)
So the bodybugg was great for the ultimate goal, but I was still slacking on the smaller goal of running that 5K in May. I figured out I was at exactly the 9 week mark, and I could still finish the Couch to 5K program if I ran faithfully.
I just finished the first day of Week 4 yesterday. With the race on May 10th, I haven't exactly been running faithfully. Penguins games have gotten in the way, because I didn't plan appropriately. I also had a couple of lazy days (like this past Thursday) where I gave into the magnetic pull of the couch AND the refrigerator. (I think that may have been my first ever day where I ate more than I burned.) But I'm not too far behind. If my legs hold out, I can probably catch back up by running every other day instead of taking a two-day break each week. I probably won't have as good a time as last year in the race, but I still think I will be able to run the whole thing again.
As for the bigger goal, I'll be bigger than I want on my birthday, but maybe I won't be a manatee on our vacation in Hilton Head in July.
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One Year Ago Today:
