Day One

The real day one, that is. A little backstory: I have been trying on and off since college to become a more active, healthier person, which is difficult for me. I've never really been an athelete and I honestly have never loved exercising. Each time, I try something a little, usually am successful/overly gung-ho for a while, and eventually quit, with some excuse. Since college I have been walking less and driving more and have put on a few pounds. But, getting fit is actually important to me. Obviously our family has a history of obesity. I want to stop that in its tracks.

So, I figure it will be easier to work out with a buddy or two. And who better than my dear, old, also-disposed-to-gaining-weight family?

I've begun to play ultimate frisbee, a sport that is kind of a cross between soccer, basketball, and football. It's fun, and can be very high intensity. Sunday I played two games, though during the second I wasn't really in for that many points. I think I have noticed an increase in my stamina even just over the ten weeks of twice weekly games. Monday it was raining and I didn't do anything.

Which brings me to today. Today I started the couch to 5k plan and did the Day One run: warm up walk for 5 minutes, 20 minutes of alternating 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking, followed by a 5 minute cooldown walk. Sounds easy. In a way, it was. I was never winded or out of breath. However, my legs HURT! I think possibly they were still tired from Sunday's game. Also, I have been exercising in cleats on grass. At home I am running on concrete sidewalks which I think is most likely what killed me. Any thoughts, guys? Should I try running on the street? I don't really want to have to drive to a track to run, but the sidewalks are just so ouchy!

Other than that, it was a good run. Beautiful skies filled with puffy clouds and the setting sun, and a moderate 80 degrees.

For the future: get bugspray. Also, as a pointer, the thin elastic headbands made by scunci that have no slip rubber on them work remarkable well for holding back the little wispies - Karen should know what I mean. And, we need to pick some 5ks for the end of our nine weeks, and some kind of road race to do over Christmas.


How about you guys? Any running?