C25K

I've been a fairly active person throughout my adult life (after college). I was never a gym rat in any sense of the term, but I was in decent shape at least. Michael and I used to go to the gym a few times during the week--I took step aerobics and kickboxing classes--and on the weekends. I felt pretty good about my fitness level. I started taking spinning classes to try them out...

...and then I got pregnant.

When I was seven weeks pregnant, I started having some bleeding problems. I pretty much had them all the way up into my second trimester, and it was always a bit unsettling. When it first started, my doctor suggested that I give spinning a rest, so I quit the class. And since it was the dead of winter and I was in my exhausting first trimester anyway, I didn't have any issues becoming a bit sedentary for a while.

But as I reached the second trimester, the weather was just beginning to improve, and I began walking. Long walks with Tessa that I enjoyed thoroughly. And then Michael began joining me, and from then on, we walked nearly every evening after dinner, about 3 miles. All throughout the spring, the summer... it was routine. And even as I grew hugely pregnant, it still felt really good to get out and walk. I was in good shape going into labor, and all was good.

Then Nora was born, and well, priorities shifted. Majorly.

I give major credit to people who have small children and still maintain a course of regular exercise. Gym time? I still cannot fathom it. Working full time with a child makes life a bit of a whirlwind--we rush home from work, work quickly to get dinner on the table, and bathtime--all before she goes to bed at 7:00. It's mad dash. And when she's in bed? Well, that's time for everything else we need to do. Dishes, cleaning, laundry, home improvement projects, and hey... some relaxing.

My weight is absolutely fine. My fitness? Not so much.

I've been wanting to get back into something, but didn't want to go back to the gym. Walking is still good and I would do it, but since we can't go together anymore (after Nora's sleeping), it seemed pretty boring.

Enter C25K. That's Couch-to-5K, for those who may be unfamiliar. It's a training program to take you from being basically a couch potato to being able to run a 5K.

Let me preface this by saying I AM NOT A RUNNER. I hate running, in fact. But so many runners kept telling me that they started with something like C25K and that it made them looooove running. I'm not convinced, but I committed to giving it a try.

I started by downloading an app on my iPhone. Specifically, "C25K Free" (shown below):

The way the program works is this: You run three days per week. The running is done in intervals--walk, run, walk, run, repeat several times until you've reached 30+ minutes of total activity. The intervals start off pretty easy, with 1 minute of running, then 1.5 minutes of walking during Week 1. Then, they gradually work their way up to be longer periods of running and less walking, until you complete 8 weeks and can supposedly run a full 5K.

The nice thing about the app is that it prompts you when to begin running and walking so that you don't have to be watching the clock. I downloaded some music onto my iPhone from my iTunes, and the app will automatically quiet the music for a moment to speak over it to give me my prompts.

Now, I've only completed through Week 2 Day 2 at this point (Week 2 Day 3 is next), but I have to say... I'm liking it so far. Do I love running? No. At least not yet. But I do feel pretty good when I'm doing it, and afterward, so there are positives. And 30ish minutes three times a week is not too much to ask.

On nights when it works out, Michael and Nora have actually come with me. Michael walks/runs next to me with Nora in the jogging stroller and it's nice to get out and enjoy a little bit of the nice evening weather with them. We can only do this when we have something SUPER simple (like leftovers or sandwiches) planned for dinner, and when Nora is in a decent mood, but it's something.

I hope to continue through the summer and into the fall--by then, I'll hopefully have accomplished the 5K goal, and hopefully I'll have become "addicted" to running. I'm still very much a skeptic about that, but we'll see how it goes.

By winter, we hope to have our basement in order and we have plans to buy a treadmill.

I'm prepared to put some miles on these shoes!

Those with kids: What do you do for exercise? Do you find it to be as challenging to work into your schedule as I do? For everyone: Are you currently challenging yourself in some way when it comes to your fitness? Have you ever done a C25K program before? If so, were you successful in completing it? Did it make you love running (like everyone says)? Were you able to keep it up after the program was over?