Couch to 5K

This morning I completed the first week of the Couch to 5K program. The first week alternates 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking for 25 minutes. The workouts are three times a week, which with my schedule this week was Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday, but I'll probably start doing Mon-Wend-Fri in the weeks ahead. The first day I was able to finish with no problems, the second day I struggled a little but still finished. This morning I wasn't so lucky. I was sore before I even got started, I tried to stretch out really well since I thought I might not be stretching good enough but it didn't help. I struggled just to finish the 60 seconds of jogging. After 4 cycles of walking and jogging I had to stop and just walk the remaining time. At 290 pounds I really don't want to turn sore into injured.. my body is not used to this. I will probably repeat the week one cycles next week before I move on. How can I jog 90 seconds if I can't finish 60 seconds?

May 15th I will be doing the Greek Festival 5K here in Winston Salem, which will be about halfway through the training (Week 5) so hopefully that will help me monitor my progress. If I can jog even half the race and improve on my Lillie's Friends 5K time then I will be doing good.

July 17th, which will be about 3 weeks after I finish the program and will then just be training, will be my first competitive race. The Beat the Heat 5K in Winston Salem is a US Track and Field certified course and is the site of the NC 5K Championships. This is a real race with awards and prize money rather than a charity walk (not that I have anything against the charity run/walks, I love them). My plan for this race is to run the whole distance. Do I expect to win? Heck No.. do I expect to even finish top 50? Probably not, but if I can run the whole distance and post a time in say the 25 minute range (About an 8 minute per mile pace) then I will be doing good.

My friend Amanda, who started her own running craze and has inspired mine, is planning on running the 2011 Disney Full Marathon (she has completed two Half's). My long term goal is to join her in 2012. I will run the Half while she runs the Full. After that I may eventually run the full, but I just really cannot wrap my head around going from 345 pounds to running a half marathon in 2 years, so if I can do it that will be amazing.

My training today did not go well, but I'm not giving up!