One Step at a Time

Today I took the first step in a healthier lifestyle. The Boy and I started the Couch to 5K (C25K) running program.

It was a great day to start. We are (hopefully) coming to the end of a long, hot summer and are experiencing a few cloudy and rainy days. Today at 6:30am it was overcast, 67 degrees (which is a much welcome change) a bit humid out, but otherwise a beautiful day.

I downloaded the C25K app for my iPhone so that I wouldn't have to worry about keeping time of the walking/running intervals and just ran or walked till it beeped at me to change.

Overall it went about as well as I expected. It was tough, tiring, and almost fun. I think that doing strength training with EA Sports Active this summer helped to build up my endurance so I wasn't totally dead by the end of the run. I was sweaty, flushed, and felt like I might pass out or throw up. But I hear that is common for a newbie. ;)

On the plus side, I didn't have any knee pain or shin splints which is very normal for me when I do any high impact sports or exercises and is mostly why I hate running so much. But I didn't experience any of those problems, which was a huge relief! (Thanks again EA Sports!)

I still had issues towards the end of my workout with my hip hurting (again, another common issue for me) which limited me to walking for the last two run cycles which was kind of a bummer. But it will just take some time to build up strength in those muscles and I didn't want to overexert and injure myself on the first day and be put off on running all together.

I also read up a little today about hip-injuries in runners and there are some things I can do to try to help with the issues so I will try some of those things and see if it gets better. =)

The other problem I had was blisters. I also expected this. Even though it's sandal season, I have very soft, callous-less feet, that I take pride in thank you very much. But those delicate toesies make it easy for blisters to form. I also didn't have the best shoes or socks for running. But had I kept letting not having the right equipment get in the way, I would have never gotten started. ;) Excuses, excuses. So I think that The Boy and I might go shopping for proper shoes sometime this week if we plan to keep things up - which I hope!!

Oddly enough, the hardest part of the whole thing wasn't the running. It was getting out of bed in the morning. I have been trying all summer to "force" myself to become a morning person, and this too will just take time to form good habits. But whether I'm getting up at 5:30am or 11:00am that part is never easy. =P