Day 1 -- I Have Some Thoughts...

I realize that this will post on Wednesday night, and our first day of running/walking/crawling/dragging was Tuesday.  I haven't even gotten going properly and I'm already behind.

Fantastic!

Our coach sent each of us our training plans over the weekend, and most of us are on a walk/run program, much like you'd find in the Couch-to-5-K program.  After a five-minute warm-up, we alternate walking for 90 seconds and running for 60 seconds for 20 minutes and then we cool down with a five-minute walk.  This will go on for a week or two.

Or until I lose the will to live.

Whichever comes first.

Anyway...

When I read my plan for the first time I actually thought it sounded great.  Piece of cake, I said to myself.  I'll be zipping along to my first 5K in a matter of days, I told myself.  I hope my coach won't mind upping my training schedule, I said.  Running for a minute every other minute and a half?  I'm all over it.

Here's the funny thing about my sense of reality.  I have none.

We started with a few tips on stretching.  We asked questions.  She answered.  And then she turned us loose.

The five minute warm-up?  I loved it.  It felt great to be outside and walking at a nice brisk pace, laughing with a group of funny friends, breathing in the cool crisp air.

And then the timer went off.  It was time to run.  So I ran.  And a few things crossed my mind.

• Fat hurts.  I mean, it HURTS when it has nothing to do but jiggle around and smack its host.  It's like being hit with 38 wet towels in the stomach.  And in other places.  Ouch.
• Can you exercise in Spanx?
• Sixty seconds is not very long when you're, say, watching a movie and eating a bowl of popcorn.
• Sixty seconds can seem like an eternity when your fat is giving you a good fat-lashing.
• You can repeat the phrase hell-damn sixty times in one minute.  (Guess how I know?)
• Have I mentioned that fat stings when it is jostled about?
• When it's 37 degrees outside and you're engaged in physical activity, your nose will run.  It will run faster than your legs are moving.  This is not comfortable.  Nor is it attractive in the least, I'm sure.
• Would it be strange to run with a roll of toilet paper somehow attached to your nose?
• How completely out of shape must I be to find running 6 minutes out of 20 taxing?  Am I part sloth?
• I am glad I do not live in an area that is very hilly.  Hills, to a runner, must be slopes of evil.
• Stop me if I've already said this, but bouncing fat does not give you a warm, fuzzy feeling.

After my app told me that I could cool down and then stop, I went back inside the school and our fearless leader went through some stretches with us.  I like the stretches.  They didn't make me want to use profanity.  Much.

With day 1 behind me, I got into my car and started the 30-minute drive home.  I started thinking about the previous half hour, and (if I'm completely honest) I felt kind of low for a few minutes.  If running for a minute at a time was no picnic, what in the world makes me think I'll ever run for 30 minutes (or more) straight?  Am I kidding myself into believe that I'll be able to do this and like it?
The bottom line is that this is going to be harder than I thought for a little while.  It might be hard until the end of the program.  I'm not sure I'm up for this.

And then I had a few more thoughts.

• So what if it's hard?  Stay with it until it's not.  See it through.
• In general, I'm pretty healthy.  I need to lose a few pounds, but other than that, I'm healthy.  Should I really complain about running (or walking, biking, swimming, whatever...) when there are others who would gladly use what I take for granted?  
• The timing of this program is too perfect.  I am supposed to be doing this.  Now.  There is a reason that the opportunities fell into place as they did.
• I feel good.  (Now that the fat isn't jiggling, of course.)  But something about those 30 minutes feels good.  
• My head feels a little clearer. (Perhaps it was because everything in my head ran out of my nose.  Who's to say?)  
• I laughed. (When I wasn't gasping for air, obviously.)  And laughter is the best.

The bottom line is that those 30 minutes were worth the effort.  And they'll be worth it on Day 2.