Couch to 5k Review

I have gotten into trying to become a better person as a whole: mind, body, and spirit. Well, my mind is about full from going to school for so long, and I have been on a spiritual journey since I was a child (which is continuing to grow each day). However, I had let my body go since I was unable to swim anymore (after my senior year in high school). I had always hated running, with a passion. So I dabbled with other forms of exercise, but never really stuck with one.

I had decided last summer/fall that I needed to get back into shape since the 'married 15' was creeping up on me. So I caved and started running. Originally I did the C25k program to ease my way into the world of running, and found that even the 1st round of running for 1 minute at a time was difficult for me (yeah, I was that out of shape). I was making awesome progress until my hip started killing me every time I ran (and even when I wasn't running). I had to stop. Boo, hiss. Upon returning my hip was still killing me...I turned to yoga, wii, and upper body workouts for awhile before giving everything up around the holidays.

Recently, I have been motivated to begin working out again. I started with the basic level of the C25k to get myself acclimated with running again. This time, to prevent further injuries, I stretch after a 5 minute brisk walk (and I know when I've skipped this or not stretched enough after about .5 mile). It seems to do the trick. I have veered away from sticking to the plan and loosely follow it (I run 3 or 4 times per week and do the warm up and cool down), but instead I follow my own plan. I started running as much as I could, walk for about 2 minutes, then run the same amount of time, repeat for about 30 minutes. It works wonders! I'm up to about 5 minutes at a time right now (not bad for the person that could barely make 1 minute before). I've learned that following the program is not as important as getting to the destination, and everyone has her own pace.

Now if only I could find more motivating songs for my ipod....