Couch to 5K (Without the 5K)
Yesterday, Liz and I decided to start up a running regimen. We’re doing the Couch to 5K plan, as Liz is going to be participating in a run with her sister, Katie.
Me, I’m just along for the ride. I don’t have any plans to run in anything organized, as I’m not convinced I can actually do a full run non-stop. I get winded incredibly easily, and even when I’m going super slow on a treadmill… I have a hard time catching my breath after about 2 minutes. I attribute a lot of this to me being a pretty heavy smoker, once upon a time. My lungs just feel shot, even when doing fairly basic cardio workouts.
That said, I’ve also never really been one to do much cardio, at least not consistently or methodically. I used to run at least once a week at the gym, but it was more of a “go there for 30 minutes” kind of a thing. I never kept track of time or distance, never tried to push myself to do better than the time before. I mostly went and punched in/out.
Using the Couch to 5K schedule, things seem to start off pretty easy: 60 seconds running, followed by 90 seconds walking. Do this for about twenty minutes. Repeat this 3x a week for a week or two, after which it goes to something like 60 running, 60 walking.
While Liz is getting herself back up into running mode (she used to run in HS), I’m simply looking to improve my endurance. I think trying to shoot for a 5K is ambitious for me, and I don’t want to add any extra stress above and beyond simply committing to the running. We’re doing an aggressive schedule of running every other morning, with me seeing a trainer at the gym once a week and Liz seeing a traier 2x a week.
Should be an interesting next few weeks.
Related:
Lucille Clifton: I Am Running Into A New Year
These Shoes Were Made For Running
Me, A Couch, And A Bunny
Wherein I Am Photographed, Unawares
Looking for a movable type to WordPress converter but thought I’d comment on your post. Listen to your body, but from what I have read you can improve lung capacity after you stop smoking. Just make sure you are drinking water, and eating healthy food. If you are eating crap you may want to sort that out first. =)
PS Looks like I can move to WP now. I actually really like MT but its time. There is a lot more functionality available on the WP platform. And an active development community.
jl (September 8, 2012 at 10:01 am)Thanks for the encouraging words. I could definitely be eating better, but feel that I’m better now than I was maybe a month or so ago. We’ll see how the running works out.
Funny that you got here looking for a MT>WP converter. I’m assuming you saw my post about converting this blog over, as I was on MT for ages and ages.
I don’t know if I’d be of any help, but if you run into any snags… feel free to drop a line. Good luck with converting – I think you’ll really like WP once you cross over.
avoision (September 8, 2012 at 10:32 am)