I wore my regular sweats and a sweatshirt.  It wasn't raining when I
left, and only started sprinkling in my last five minutes.  I made it
home before my five minutes were up so I went inside.  I knew I was
going to be moving around inside(vacuuming, laundry...)so I finished
cooling off inside.
I do have a waterproof jacket that I could have worn but it is a
little tight and I don't want to put it on unless I have to.  It goes
over the head so I almost have to make sure someone is around to help
me take it off.  :)









--- In PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com, "Shana" <ShanaOB@...> wrote:
>
> Yay!!  What did you wear to run in the rain?  I debated it for
about a nanosecond and then went to the gym. I don't have anything
water resistant other than my "normal" jacket which would not be OK
for running.
>
> Good job.  I still don't have 100% confidence about the not melting
thing.  In my defense, I've only lived in the Northwest for 10
years : )
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: blondemome34<mailto:blondemome34@...>
>   To:
PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com<mailto:PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com>
>   Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 9:36 AM
>   Subject: [PDXcouch25k] I didn't melt
>
>
>   I did my third run this week. This is the most exercising I have
done
>   in a long time and it feels great.
>
>   I am still debating whether to do another week one run or move on
to
>   week two on Sunday.
>
>   Have a great weekend everyone!!
>

I did my third run today.  I wussed out and did it on the treadmill.
I LOVE the fact that in this new and improved reality, exercising on
the treadmill is considered wussing out considering the fact that I
haven't done this much exercise in 10 years.

I had a great run, ramped my speed up to 3.0 on all walking segments,
4.0 on run 1, 4.2 on run 2 and 4.5 on the rest of the runs.  On the
final run, I did an extra 30 seconds at 4.5 before starting the cool
down walk.  I ran for all of the running parts with one 30 second
exception on run 5... see below.

At the faster speeds, I definitely feel a difference in my breathing
(much heavier) and my recovery (slower).  In fact, I came home,
showered and 30 minutes post-shower my cheeks are still red.  I'm
debating continuing with week 1 on Sunday vs. moving up to week 2.  I
guess I'll decide on Sunday.  I like that we have a big enough window
to do that before the Starlight 5k.

Two small mishaps.  First one, during the warm up walk, I started
watching HGTV with no sound on a TV to my left, and kind of veered to
the left, and took a step with my left foot off of the moving part of
the treadmill and onto the side part of the treadmill and almost ate
it.  Yes, I am a spaz.

Second mishap, much more significant.  During run 5 one of my
earphone things was feeling wobbly, so I tried to adjust it, and
pulled too far and yanked my faux-pod off of the treadmill bottle
holder where it was resting.  It slammed to the bottom of the
treadmill, the cord for the earphones yanked out, and WHAM, the
sucker flew off the back of the treadmill at 4.5 miles an hour and
into the next row of treadmills behind me!  Being the vision of grace
that I am, I couldn't decide how best to slow down the 4.5 mph run
and reclaim the faux-pod and made a less than smooth transitional
dive off the treadmill to grab it off of the floor.  The kind senior
citizens on the treadmills behind me pretended not to notice, God
bless them.

Happy weekend, everyone : )

I did my third run this week.  This is the most exercising I have done
in a long time and it feels great.

I am still debating whether to do another week one run or move on to
week two on Sunday.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

I have always wanted to walk through Washington Park.  I am afraid I
would get lost.  Is it easy to walk around in?  Are there maps?
Good for you doing 6 miles.  Do you do Portland to Coast?






-- In PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com, "Amanda Moore" <amoore0217@...>
wrote:
>
> I feel you!  It took a lot of motivation to walk today.  I went out
twice.
> Once it was raining and then later when it cleared.  No running but
I walked
> 6 miles, half of that through the hills of Washington Park.  Muddy
but fun!
>
>
>
> I'm still trying to figure out where to do this running.  My
neighborhood
> isn't really conducive.
>
>
>
> From: PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of shanaob
> Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 11:25 PM
> To: PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [PDXcouch25k] Rain Rain Go Away
>
>
>
> Well, tomorrow is my third run of week one ... and I am laying in
bed
> listening to the rain come down.
>
> Waaaaaaaahhhhhhhh.
>

I was thinking the same thing.  I am still going to try and run through
the rain drops.  I have gone 37 years with out melting.  And I am going
up where there is snow this weekend, so I know I won't be able to get
another run in till Sunday.

I will post later after I run.  :)










--- In PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com, "shanaob" <ShanaOB@...> wrote:
>
> Well, tomorrow is my third run of week one ... and I am laying in bed
> listening to the rain come down.
>
> Waaaaaaaahhhhhhhh.
>

Well, tomorrow is my third run of week one ... and I am laying in bed
listening to the rain come down.

Waaaaaaaahhhhhhhh.

>>Thinking about spending a fourth day in week 1 just to make sure I'm
ready for the next level, so maybe that'll be the time to up the speed
a bit.

I am thinking the same thing.  I feel good about my first two runs,
but I'm afraid to go further.  It's almost like I want to be more
comfortable at level one before I move to level two, which I guess
could be a problem if you never push yourself and want to stay in the
comfort zone all of the time.  I don't know what the magic solution
is.

I have my next runs planned on the same schedule... Friday, Sunday,
Wednesday.

Keep up the good work.  We're all in this together... I have to
agree, peer pressure is a powerful thing!
--- In PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com, "bigprofessor" <bigprofessor@...>
wrote:
>
> Okay, maybe charm is an exaggeration, but it wasn't bad.
>
> Although...I need to increase my speed. At the moment I'm doing 2.8
&
> 3.0 for the walks and 3.4 to 3.6 for the runs. And I'm sweating it,
> but knowing that Shana's setting the bar higher has me thinking that
> I'm going too easy on myself.
>
> Thinking about spending a fourth day in week 1 just to make sure I'm
> ready for the next level, so maybe that'll be the time to up the
speed
> a bit.
>
> I could've easily avoided running this morning. Oh, it would've been
> so very easy. But since I feel like I'm in this grand experiment
(can
> my big fat ass sustain running speeds without serious injury?) with
> the rest of this group, I didn't allow myself any excuses.
>
> So, thanks ya'll!
>

Okay, maybe charm is an exaggeration, but it wasn't bad.

Although...I need to increase my speed. At the moment I'm doing 2.8 &
3.0 for the walks and 3.4 to 3.6 for the runs. And I'm sweating it,
but knowing that Shana's setting the bar higher has me thinking that
I'm going too easy on myself.

Thinking about spending a fourth day in week 1 just to make sure I'm
ready for the next level, so maybe that'll be the time to up the speed
a bit.

I could've easily avoided running this morning. Oh, it would've been
so very easy. But since I feel like I'm in this grand experiment (can
my big fat ass sustain running speeds without serious injury?) with
the rest of this group, I didn't allow myself any excuses.

So, thanks ya'll!

Everything went well.  Better than the first time.  I felt good,
breathing was not too bad, legs not straining too hard.  Maybe I should
push myself more?

I don't know what it is about those yoga pants, but that is what I wore
today too.  Kept falling down, thankfully I had a long shirt on.
Lesson learned.  I will wear different pants next time.

I was thankful that the sun was out.  It does make it easier to want to
go out and exercise.  I hope I can have the will power to do a run in
the rain.  I don't have an option of a treadmill and I think I would
feel funny running around my house.  My dogs and cat would think I was
nuts.

I am planning my next run for Friday and then Sunday.  I think I will
be ready to move on to Week 2 after that.

Good job on the treadmill.

I don't know what to tell you about your feet.  You could go to a
running shoe store and they can tell you what it might be.  I think
the store I am thinking of is called Fit Right.  Yep, here is there
website.  Northwest.http://www.fitrightnw.com/

I have no affiliation with them.  I just know they are good with
fitting you with shoes.  I bought my daughter a pair there and she
loves them.  I would go back for her again.

Get yourself a bra.  Sorry, I am bossy.  :)  I just don't want you to
hurt yourself.

Do you have your next run planned?








--- In PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com, "shanaob" <ShanaOB@...> wrote:
>
> TRAINING DAY 2, 3/12/08 (Wed)
>
> I decided to do my training on the treadmill today because I didn't
> want to go out and run by myself this morning because there was no
> one else on the track that I drove to (lame, I know) and besides, I
> bought the 20-punch gym card and need to use it 18 more times.  It
> actually worked out great.  I think I'm going to try to alternate
> treadmill with outdoor running during the training.
>
> I felt a lot more focused and less distracted on the treadmill, at
> least until someone turned on Animal Plant on a TV that I could
watch
> but not hear.  That was a little distracting... but I digress.  I
> also like the fact that I could decide how fast to set it and know
> how fast I was going.  I did the walking at 3.0 mph, the first two
> intervals at 4.0, the remaining intervals at 4.2 mph with the last
> one ramped up to 4.5!
>
> In an effort to not sound like a whiner, I am going to offset all
of
> the negative things I have to say about exercise with positive
ones.
> My glass is half-full, damn it.
>
> POSITIVE 1: I did the whole thing dead on with the podcast, not
> skipping an interval.
>
> POSITIVE and NEGATIVE:  I had no problems with recovery after each
> interval.  I must have a really good heart.  I tend to get really
> red, and that's never going to change.  I'm a natural red head with
> freckles and translucent white skin.  So, red face aside, my
> breathing is not labored.  I'm breathing heavy, like exercise
heavy,
> during the runs, but not panting/dying/causing a scene/hey lady,
are
> you okay breathing.  Next time I'll take my heart rate to see where
I
> am.  Where was I going with this?  OH, anyway... cardio wise the
runs
> are fine, but it's my feet... owie!  My feet hurt during the
running
> portion, when I ease back to a walk, they feel better.  WTF is up
> with that?  Any ideas?  I have six month old New Balance running
> shoes that have hardly any miles on them and they are a good fit.
I
> don't have any health problems that would lead to circulation
> issues.  I am thinking that the problem is my delicate little size
6-
> 1/2 feet are not meant to be pounded by 163 pounds of fat.
>
> POSITIVE 2: I was not self conscious, didn't feel like a
giant 'tard
> on the treadmill with everyone pointing and staring, which is how I
> usually feel at a gym.
>
> NEGATIVE 1: I don't like the techno music on the podcasts... at
all!
> But maybe that's a positive because I can dream of the day that I
> don't need to be coached and can put on my own music and just run.
>
> NEGATIVE 2:  I still didn't buy a sports bra, and I need to.  Do
they
> make sports underwear, because I think my ass jiggles more than my
> boobs.
>
> POSITIVE and NEGATIVE: The yoga pants that I had on were way too
> loose (yay for me!) but kept slipping way down on my hips (not
> conducive to a good workout).
>
> POSITIVE 3:  Most of the 60 second runs seemed short and the 90
> second walks seemed long.
>
> NEGATIVE 3: At the end of the 60 seconds, my feet hurt and I'm
happy
> to be walking again, so how am I ever going to be able to run for
> more than 60 seconds?  On the positive side, I guess it's better to
> have owie feet than bursting lungs.
>
> So that's 3 positives, 3 negatives and two washes.  Hey, my cup
> REALLY is half full!
>

Hi Nina...

I'm so glad to hear that you've had success with the couch to 5k.  Nice
to know it's really doable.  Keep us posted on your progress.

Shana

TRAINING DAY 2, 3/12/08 (Wed)

I decided to do my training on the treadmill today because I didn't
want to go out and run by myself this morning because there was no
one else on the track that I drove to (lame, I know) and besides, I
bought the 20-punch gym card and need to use it 18 more times.  It
actually worked out great.  I think I'm going to try to alternate
treadmill with outdoor running during the training.

I felt a lot more focused and less distracted on the treadmill, at
least until someone turned on Animal Plant on a TV that I could watch
but not hear.  That was a little distracting... but I digress.  I
also like the fact that I could decide how fast to set it and know
how fast I was going.  I did the walking at 3.0 mph, the first two
intervals at 4.0, the remaining intervals at 4.2 mph with the last
one ramped up to 4.5!

In an effort to not sound like a whiner, I am going to offset all of
the negative things I have to say about exercise with positive ones.
My glass is half-full, damn it.

POSITIVE 1: I did the whole thing dead on with the podcast, not
skipping an interval.

POSITIVE and NEGATIVE:  I had no problems with recovery after each
interval.  I must have a really good heart.  I tend to get really
red, and that's never going to change.  I'm a natural red head with
freckles and translucent white skin.  So, red face aside, my
breathing is not labored.  I'm breathing heavy, like exercise heavy,
during the runs, but not panting/dying/causing a scene/hey lady, are
you okay breathing.  Next time I'll take my heart rate to see where I
am.  Where was I going with this?  OH, anyway... cardio wise the runs
are fine, but it's my feet... owie!  My feet hurt during the running
portion, when I ease back to a walk, they feel better.  WTF is up
with that?  Any ideas?  I have six month old New Balance running
shoes that have hardly any miles on them and they are a good fit.  I
don't have any health problems that would lead to circulation
issues.  I am thinking that the problem is my delicate little size 6-
1/2 feet are not meant to be pounded by 163 pounds of fat.

POSITIVE 2: I was not self conscious, didn't feel like a giant 'tard
on the treadmill with everyone pointing and staring, which is how I
usually feel at a gym.

NEGATIVE 1: I don't like the techno music on the podcasts... at all!
But maybe that's a positive because I can dream of the day that I
don't need to be coached and can put on my own music and just run.

NEGATIVE 2:  I still didn't buy a sports bra, and I need to.  Do they
make sports underwear, because I think my ass jiggles more than my
boobs.

POSITIVE and NEGATIVE: The yoga pants that I had on were way too
loose (yay for me!) but kept slipping way down on my hips (not
conducive to a good workout).

POSITIVE 3:  Most of the 60 second runs seemed short and the 90
second walks seemed long.

NEGATIVE 3: At the end of the 60 seconds, my feet hurt and I'm happy
to be walking again, so how am I ever going to be able to run for
more than 60 seconds?  On the positive side, I guess it's better to
have owie feet than bursting lungs.

So that's 3 positives, 3 negatives and two washes.  Hey, my cup
REALLY is half full!

I did the c25k two years ago and it was great!  But then winter came
and I didn't like running in the cold/ice. So, I tried to run the
first week schedule this sunday(3/9).  And apparently I need to build
up my stamina again! So my goal is to be able to do the first week of
the c25k within the next two weeks.

Looking forward to seeing everyone's progress!
Nina

Good luck Mandy!

I'm going to do my second run tomorrow.  My goals are: 1. don't stroke
out,  2. don't fall on my ass tripping over my own spastic feet and 3.
well, that's pretty much it, don't fall down and don't drop dead.

Let us know how your run goes : )
Shana

Hi all!

I just found the group on Craigslist and am stoked.  I was just about
to post an almost identical ad when I saw it so...great minds and all
that.

I just thought I'd introduce myself to the group.  It looks like
you're all getting started which is great motivation since I won't
want to look like the lamo who doesn't follow through. YAY peer
pressure! ;-)

My first day will be tomorrow so I'll report back then on how it goes.

Good luck to you all!

Mandy

I love the idea of mixing our own podcasts, but I have no idea how
you get the voice track over the music track ??  I am barely
proficient at downloading music and getting it onto my Zen player
(which my kids call the faux-pod)  : )

--- In PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com, "bigprofessor" <bigprofessor@...>
wrote:
>
> Congrats Kathy!
>
> Yeah, the music kept me moving, but it wouldn't be my first choice.
We
> could think about mixing our own podcasts for this...maybe for the
> last weeks as a reward for our hard work.
>
> :)
>
>
> --- In PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com, "blondemome34" <blondemome34@>
> wrote:
> >
> > Yes, that was annoying.  I also found for the first interval I
> > started running before he said go.  Then another time I didn't
start
> > running cause he didn't say go, he had just said ready.  It took
me a
> > bit to realize that I was supposed to be running.
> >
> > You had mentioned that you weren't a fan of the music.  I kind of
> > liked it.  Wasn't something that I would listen to regularly, but
it
> > did keep me moving.
> >
> > Kathy
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --- In PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com, "shanaob" <ShanaOB@> wrote:
> > >
> > > YAY KATHY!  Awesome!  I'm doing my second day on Wednesday,
> > hopefully
> > > without a baby in a non-baby jogger.
> > >
> > > RE: the podcasts, on the last interval, did you find it
distracting
> > > when he butts in and says ONLY 20 MORE SECONDS?  I was running
full
> > > on during that last interval and when I heard his voice I
slowed
> > back
> > > to a walk, only for my adled brain to realize a moment later
that
> > he
> > > didn't say stop and it wasn't really over!  But I'll be on the
> > > lookout for that next time.
> > >
> > >
> > > --- In PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com, "blondemome34"
<blondemome34@>
> > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Yeah! I did it!!
> > > >
> > > > I am so thankful this group was started.  It was the
motivation I
> > > > needed.  The first 3 intervals I felt great.  Next 3 I was
> > starting
> > > to
> > > > feel it.  I lost count after that and just wanted it to end.
But
> > I
> > > > persevered and did them all.  And I ended up right back in
front
> > of
> > > my
> > > > house.  How perfect was that.
> > > >
> > > > I am planning my next run/walk for Wednesday.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks again for starting this group
> > > >
> > > > Kathy
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

Congrats Kathy!

Yeah, the music kept me moving, but it wouldn't be my first choice. We
could think about mixing our own podcasts for this...maybe for the
last weeks as a reward for our hard work.

:)


--- In PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com, "blondemome34" <blondemome34@...>
wrote:
>
> Yes, that was annoying.  I also found for the first interval I
> started running before he said go.  Then another time I didn't start
> running cause he didn't say go, he had just said ready.  It took me a
> bit to realize that I was supposed to be running.
>
> You had mentioned that you weren't a fan of the music.  I kind of
> liked it.  Wasn't something that I would listen to regularly, but it
> did keep me moving.
>
> Kathy
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --- In PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com, "shanaob" <ShanaOB@> wrote:
> >
> > YAY KATHY!  Awesome!  I'm doing my second day on Wednesday,
> hopefully
> > without a baby in a non-baby jogger.
> >
> > RE: the podcasts, on the last interval, did you find it distracting
> > when he butts in and says ONLY 20 MORE SECONDS?  I was running full
> > on during that last interval and when I heard his voice I slowed
> back
> > to a walk, only for my adled brain to realize a moment later that
> he
> > didn't say stop and it wasn't really over!  But I'll be on the
> > lookout for that next time.
> >
> >
> > --- In PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com, "blondemome34" <blondemome34@>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Yeah! I did it!!
> > >
> > > I am so thankful this group was started.  It was the motivation I
> > > needed.  The first 3 intervals I felt great.  Next 3 I was
> starting
> > to
> > > feel it.  I lost count after that and just wanted it to end.  But
> I
> > > persevered and did them all.  And I ended up right back in front
> of
> > my
> > > house.  How perfect was that.
> > >
> > > I am planning my next run/walk for Wednesday.
> > >
> > > Thanks again for starting this group
> > >
> > > Kathy
> > >
> >
>

Yes, that was annoying.  I also found for the first interval I
started running before he said go.  Then another time I didn't start
running cause he didn't say go, he had just said ready.  It took me a
bit to realize that I was supposed to be running.

You had mentioned that you weren't a fan of the music.  I kind of
liked it.  Wasn't something that I would listen to regularly, but it
did keep me moving.

Kathy














--- In PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com, "shanaob" <ShanaOB@...> wrote:
>
> YAY KATHY!  Awesome!  I'm doing my second day on Wednesday,
hopefully
> without a baby in a non-baby jogger.
>
> RE: the podcasts, on the last interval, did you find it distracting
> when he butts in and says ONLY 20 MORE SECONDS?  I was running full
> on during that last interval and when I heard his voice I slowed
back
> to a walk, only for my adled brain to realize a moment later that
he
> didn't say stop and it wasn't really over!  But I'll be on the
> lookout for that next time.
>
>
> --- In PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com, "blondemome34" <blondemome34@>
> wrote:
> >
> > Yeah! I did it!!
> >
> > I am so thankful this group was started.  It was the motivation I
> > needed.  The first 3 intervals I felt great.  Next 3 I was
starting
> to
> > feel it.  I lost count after that and just wanted it to end.  But
I
> > persevered and did them all.  And I ended up right back in front
of
> my
> > house.  How perfect was that.
> >
> > I am planning my next run/walk for Wednesday.
> >
> > Thanks again for starting this group
> >
> > Kathy
> >
>

YAY KATHY!  Awesome!  I'm doing my second day on Wednesday, hopefully
without a baby in a non-baby jogger.

RE: the podcasts, on the last interval, did you find it distracting
when he butts in and says ONLY 20 MORE SECONDS?  I was running full
on during that last interval and when I heard his voice I slowed back
to a walk, only for my adled brain to realize a moment later that he
didn't say stop and it wasn't really over!  But I'll be on the
lookout for that next time.


--- In PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com, "blondemome34" <blondemome34@...>
wrote:
>
> Yeah! I did it!!
>
> I am so thankful this group was started.  It was the motivation I
> needed.  The first 3 intervals I felt great.  Next 3 I was starting
to
> feel it.  I lost count after that and just wanted it to end.  But I
> persevered and did them all.  And I ended up right back in front of
my
> house.  How perfect was that.
>
> I am planning my next run/walk for Wednesday.
>
> Thanks again for starting this group
>
> Kathy
>

Yeah! I did it!!

I am so thankful this group was started.  It was the motivation I
needed.  The first 3 intervals I felt great.  Next 3 I was starting to
feel it.  I lost count after that and just wanted it to end.  But I
persevered and did them all.  And I ended up right back in front of my
house.  How perfect was that.

I am planning my next run/walk for Wednesday.

Thanks again for starting this group

Kathy

All right, two down and one to go before you move to the week 2
plan!!  I am thinking I might need to do two weeks of the week 1
program before I am ready to move on.

I'm still pretty sure that I look kind of stupid jogging... but F*
it.  I know I don't look good eating my third plate at a Chinese
buffet either, but that never stopped me, haha.  Of course, now that
I'm being, like, all healthy and shit, I don't do Chinese buffet
anymore (or not so much anymore) : )


--- In PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com, "bigprofessor"
<bigprofessor@...> wrote:
>
> I started the program a couple of days ago, so just finished my
second
> run for week 1. And I gotta tell ya, Shana's experience, that
sudden
> realization that you can actually do this & the pride you feel when
> you're done...that's pretty much what I experienced.
>
> & all those worries about how you'll look stupid jogging and all
those
> fears that you'll just drop dead right there on the spot don't
seem to
> have any effect once you've completed your first run.
>
> So join the group & run with us!
>

Wow! After that day & all the possible excuses that were thrown at you
NOT TO RUN, I'm really impressed that you got out there anyway and did it.

--- In PDXcouch25k@yahoogroups.com, "shanaob" <ShanaOB@...> wrote:
>
> TRAINING DAY 1, 3/9/08 (Sun)
>
> Well, things didn't work out exactly as I had planned ... go figure,
> haha.  My plan was to get on the treadmill and walk a leisurely
> three miles to start building endurance, and to do that today
> (Sunday) as well as Wednesday and Friday.
>
> So, plan for the day was go to church, then I had a volunteer thing
> at church to do.  After that, come home, go to the gym and hit the
> treadmill.  Of course the volunteer thing took an hour longer than
> expected and of course my 9-year-old darling daughter couldn't come
> home from church without having a friend come along for a play
> date.  But it's all good, I'll get the girls home, feed them, and go
> to the gym.  My darling hubby can keep an eye on them.
>
> When we get home, DH is waiting for me to walk in the door so he can
> tell me that he's going to help friends of ours rip out bathroom
> cabinets in their "new" house.  Oh, okay.   No gym for me.
>
> My oldest darling daughter comes home a few minutes after that and
> DD9 and her play date convince DD20 to take them to see "College
> Road Trip," which leaves me home with the 5-month-old baby.  Okay...
> time to make lemonade from the lemons getting thrown at my plan.
>
> I loaded everyone up, dropped DD20, DD9 and friend at the movie
> theatre and took baby girl and the stroller to the waterfront to
> walk.  I figured I would listen to the C25k podcast for timing and
> just walk through the jog intervals.  At least I'd be getting off my
> ass and getting a feel for the program.
>
> So we hit the waterfront, walked through the five minute warm up and
> now it's time to jog and I think, what the hell, let's do it.  So I
> jogged for 60 seconds!  Yay for me!  NOTE TO SELF: buy sports bra
> and jogging stroller.   When the 60 second interval ended I did the
> 90 minute walk and then it was time to jog again, and I did it
> again!  I am feeling 100% rock star at this point.
>
> I made it through the first three intervals without having a
> coronary.  When the fourth jog interval hit, I was in a more
> congested area with walkers right in front of me and I was too self
> conscious to bust out into a jog.... EXCUSE ME, JOGGING WOMAN COMING
> THROUGH... so I walked through the fourth interval.  I turned around
> to head back to the car, and jogged for the fifth, sixth and seventh
> intervals.  When I got to the final interval, I decided to really
> run, just balls out go for it running.  Going downhill.  With a
> stroller.  Uh, bad idea but no one was injured.
>
> After the final jog, there is a five minute cool down, which was
> near perfect timing for me to be back to my car with a sleeping baby
> in the stroller ready for the drive home.
>
> My "fear" of jogging was that I would feel too jiggly, too winded,
> too self-conscious.. and I was jiggly and winded but fuck it, no one
> was pointing and staring, so I guess I need to start believing my
> hubby when he tells me that 90% of the shit I believe about the way
> I look is really all in my head.  I did sit in the car for a moment,
> looking in the mirror, expecting to see a fat red face that looked
> like she was about to stroke out.  What I saw was rosy cheeks, not
> strokey at all, and my hair even looked good, a little sweaty but
> not like plastered down and disgusting.  I know, worrying about what
> I look like while running is not really productive here, but these
> are the things that go through my mind.
>
> I downed a bottle of water and drove home.  And then ate a damned
> brownie.  Oh, well, baby steps, right?
>
>
> FEEDBACK ON THE PODCAST:  I used the Ullrey (sp) podcast and it was
> REALLY helpful.  I can't imagine how you could do this without the
> podcast unless you are on a treadmill and holding a stopwatch to
> time the intervals.  The only drawback is the music.  Techno.
> Yuck.  But if I can listen to my 9-year-old play the "Meet Miley" CD
> for hours on end, I guess half an hour of techno isn't going to kill
> me.
>
> I'm going to copy the post above to the PDXcouch25k yahoo group.
> I'm trying to figure out the best way to network the people that
> want to do the C25k together.  I thought the yahoo group was the
> best way to go because everyone can post their own experiences as
> opposed to commenting here.  Any feedback on how to make this work
> best is appreciated!  I'm looking forward to hearing about how
> others do on their first C25k day soon!
>

I started the program a couple of days ago, so just finished my second
run for week 1. And I gotta tell ya, Shana's experience, that sudden
realization that you can actually do this & the pride you feel when
you're done...that's pretty much what I experienced.

& all those worries about how you'll look stupid jogging and all those
fears that you'll just drop dead right there on the spot don't seem to
have any effect once you've completed your first run.

So join the group & run with us!

TRAINING DAY 1, 3/9/08 (Sun)

Well, things didn't work out exactly as I had planned ... go figure,
haha.  My plan was to get on the treadmill and walk a leisurely
three miles to start building endurance, and to do that today
(Sunday) as well as Wednesday and Friday.

So, plan for the day was go to church, then I had a volunteer thing
at church to do.  After that, come home, go to the gym and hit the
treadmill.  Of course the volunteer thing took an hour longer than
expected and of course my 9-year-old darling daughter couldn't come
home from church without having a friend come along for a play
date.  But it's all good, I'll get the girls home, feed them, and go
to the gym.  My darling hubby can keep an eye on them.

When we get home, DH is waiting for me to walk in the door so he can
tell me that he's going to help friends of ours rip out bathroom
cabinets in their "new" house.  Oh, okay.   No gym for me.

My oldest darling daughter comes home a few minutes after that and
DD9 and her play date convince DD20 to take them to see "College
Road Trip," which leaves me home with the 5-month-old baby.  Okay...
time to make lemonade from the lemons getting thrown at my plan.

I loaded everyone up, dropped DD20, DD9 and friend at the movie
theatre and took baby girl and the stroller to the waterfront to
walk.  I figured I would listen to the C25k podcast for timing and
just walk through the jog intervals.  At least I'd be getting off my
ass and getting a feel for the program.

So we hit the waterfront, walked through the five minute warm up and
now it's time to jog and I think, what the hell, let's do it.  So I
jogged for 60 seconds!  Yay for me!  NOTE TO SELF: buy sports bra
and jogging stroller.   When the 60 second interval ended I did the
90 minute walk and then it was time to jog again, and I did it
again!  I am feeling 100% rock star at this point.

I made it through the first three intervals without having a
coronary.  When the fourth jog interval hit, I was in a more
congested area with walkers right in front of me and I was too self
conscious to bust out into a jog.... EXCUSE ME, JOGGING WOMAN COMING
THROUGH... so I walked through the fourth interval.  I turned around
to head back to the car, and jogged for the fifth, sixth and seventh
intervals.  When I got to the final interval, I decided to really
run, just balls out go for it running.  Going downhill.  With a
stroller.  Uh, bad idea but no one was injured.

After the final jog, there is a five minute cool down, which was
near perfect timing for me to be back to my car with a sleeping baby
in the stroller ready for the drive home.

My "fear" of jogging was that I would feel too jiggly, too winded,
too self-conscious.. and I was jiggly and winded but fuck it, no one
was pointing and staring, so I guess I need to start believing my
hubby when he tells me that 90% of the shit I believe about the way
I look is really all in my head.  I did sit in the car for a moment,
looking in the mirror, expecting to see a fat red face that looked
like she was about to stroke out.  What I saw was rosy cheeks, not
strokey at all, and my hair even looked good, a little sweaty but
not like plastered down and disgusting.  I know, worrying about what
I look like while running is not really productive here, but these
are the things that go through my mind.

I downed a bottle of water and drove home.  And then ate a damned
brownie.  Oh, well, baby steps, right?


FEEDBACK ON THE PODCAST:  I used the Ullrey (sp) podcast and it was
REALLY helpful.  I can't imagine how you could do this without the
podcast unless you are on a treadmill and holding a stopwatch to
time the intervals.  The only drawback is the music.  Techno.
Yuck.  But if I can listen to my 9-year-old play the "Meet Miley" CD
for hours on end, I guess half an hour of techno isn't going to kill
me.

I'm going to copy the post above to the PDXcouch25k yahoo group.
I'm trying to figure out the best way to network the people that
want to do the C25k together.  I thought the yahoo group was the
best way to go because everyone can post their own experiences as
opposed to commenting here.  Any feedback on how to make this work
best is appreciated!  I'm looking forward to hearing about how
others do on their first C25k day soon!

Oops, forgot the links for the Web sites.

Couch to 5k program info and training schedule (9 weeks)
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

Couch to 5k training podcasts for iPod or MP3
http://www.ullreys.com/robert/Podcasts/index.html

Starlight Run Info
http://www.rosefestival.org/events/starlightrun/

Hi, if you've made it this far, you already know the drill.  I am an
out-of-shape-but-working-on-it 42-year-old wife, mother, full-time job
holder.  I somehow got the crazy assed idea that I am going to
add "runner" to that description.  I found the CoolRunning.com Couch
to 5k training plan, designed to get your ass off of the COUCH and
running a 5k in NINE EASY WEEKS (insert sarcasm here!).  I have
decided to see if it works.  I also found free downloadable podcasts
(also available in MP3) that talk you through the workouts.

If you're interested in giving this a try along with me, the links are
included below.  I hope this yahoo group will serve as a forum for
anyone interested to post their progress and track the progress of
others.  I have loaded the yahoo calendar here with my weekly plan,
posted on Sundays as I am going to get started tomorrow.

Because I am so out of shape, I don't want to sabotage myself by
making this un-doable, so I have added two weeks of "warm up" before
starting the actual Couch to 5k program, just get my endurance up a
little bit.  The C25k program starts with little bursts of running
while walking, and I don't think I'm ready for that yet, so I have
factored in two weeks of just walking before starting the actual C25k
program.  That's just me.  Everyone needs to move at their own pace.

So... ready, set, let's go!