Three Little Nemos, Living in a Fish Bowl: Couch to 5K and My first Race…

Okay, so I did it. I did something monumental, something completely insane for me, something I never thought I could do in a million years – no a billion years. I ran for 30 minutes straight. Me, the girl who couldn’t even run a mile in high school. Me, the girl who would get winded and hyperventilate during a soccer game. Me, the girl who said, “I will NEVER be a runner,” ran. 2 + miles. Ran. For 30 minutes. It was probably one of the most glorious personal triumphs of my life. I did it!

My journey from Couch to 5K was not a short one. After a year and a half of staring in the mirror, disgusted with what I saw before me, I decided I needed to do something drastic. Of course, the drastic measures I was going to take did not include limiting my food intake – that would be too hard- instead, I decided I was going to “work it” all off. So one fateful day at August’s close, I decided to start the Couch to 5K program. I tried to rally some girlfriends to join me – I do much better if someone is there to kick my butt – and start this program.

Running would do for me what no other exercise and diet regimen could, it would allow me to eat the foods I loved and still be slim. So I set out to do this. With my friend Katherine and our babies in tow, we started the program on August 30, 2010.

We met at Green Lake, in front of the community center on a Monday morning. At first, I would walk to the lake from my apartment, adding 40 minutes round trip to my work outs. As the workouts intensified, I started to drive to the lake because the extra 40 minutes was torturous on my muscles.

Our workouts ramped up slowly, but slow as it was, it was still painful. I was so out of shape, and it took weeks to be comfortable. Week 1 workouts went like so: Brisk 5-minute walk, followed by alternating intervals of 90 seconds of running and 2 minutes of walking. Those first three days were hard, but doable. The following week, week 2, started out the same. This was one of the easiest weeks, and I actually made real progress.

The rest of the weeks went as follows:
Week 3: Brisk 5-minute warm-up walk, 90 seconds of jogging, 90 seconds walking, 3 minutes jogging, three minutes walking. Repeat twice.
Week 4: Brisk 5-minute warm-up walk, jog 3 minutes, walk 90 seconds, jog 5 minutes, walk 2 minutes, jog 3 minutes, walk 5 minutes.
Week 5:
Monday: Brisk five-minute warm-up, jog 5 minutes, walk 3 minutes, jog 5 minutes, walk 3 minutes, jog 5 minutes.
Wednesday: Brisk five-minute warm-up walk, jog 8 minutes, walk 5 minutes, jog 8 minutes.
Friday: Brisk 5-minute warm-up, jog 20 minutes without stopping.
Week 6:
Monday: Brisk 5-minute warm-up walk, jog 5 minutes, walk 3 minutes, jog 8 minutes, walk 3 minutes, jog 5 minutes.
Wednesday: Brisk 5-minute warm-up, jog 10 minutes, walk 3 minutes, jog 10 minutes.
Week 7: Brisk 5-minute warm-up walk, jog 25 minutes.
Week 8: Brisk 5-minute warm-up walk, jog 28 minutes.
Week 9: Brisk 5-minute warm-up walk, jog 30 minutes.

The program was challenging, but doable. Sure, I had weeks where I didn’t want to get out of bed and run. I had weeks where I was sick and had to take the day, or a few days, off. But I completed it. And on November 21, 2010, I ran my first 5K, the Green Lake Gobble and Mashed Potato Munch Off. I signed up for the race with my friend Keri and made shirts for us that said, “Mamas to the Max.”

The race took place on a Sunday morning. Keri came to my apartment, and we got dressed for the race. We walked down to Green Lake together, which was a great warm-up. Keri decided to walk the race (and she made great time), so I didn’t have someone to lean on during the hard parts of the run.

I started out in the 11:00-12:00 minute heat. When the gun fired, it seemed to take forever to start running. It took about 4 minutes to weed through the crowd and get up to my run pace. I ran a very steady, comfortable pace and was passing people left and right. I passed people the entire race, which to my competitive spirit, felt really good. I finished the race at 38:14:00, which when you deduct the 4 minutes it took to start, means that I completed 3 miles in 34 minutes (an average of 11:30 splits). I was so proud of myself, and so was my husband. It was a terrific accomplishment, and it will not be my last race.

Since finishing C25K and running my race, I have also started Weight Watchers. The discipline of running was a great head start, but I do need a little bit of help when it comes to portion control. In four days, I have lost 4 lbs. I am excited to get into the best shape of my life, the energy it has given me, and self-confidence it is bringing to my life. If I can do it, anyone can!

Race Day: