Day 37: I'm still alive...barely

Weight: 129.6 (heeeeelll yeah!)

What I've been doing: I know it's been a while since I've posted (ten days apparently), so maybe you've been thinking that I've given up. Quite the opposite actually. I've just been completely worn out and too tired to post. Here's what an average day looks like:

• Wake up
• Work all day
• Get home and change
• Workout for an hour
• Cook dinner
• Clean house
• Pass out

Exciting stuff, huh? I think I just got creamed by the holidays. So my apologies, one of my resolutions this year will to stay on top of this.

Since I last checked in, I've been doing mostly Hip Hop Abs and physical therapy. I'm on Day 15 now and I'm already seeing a big difference. I have abs underneath the pudge, which is also slowly disappearing. I'm excited to see where I'll be in 15 more days. If I look good enough, I may even post before and after pictures (don't hold your breath).

Today was a big day for me, my physical therapist said I could go for a real run. Since it's been so long, I had to start (again) on Week 1 of Couch to 5k. The weather was amazing today, just under 60 degrees and sunny, so I went down to the rail trail. The pain is still there a little, but nothing I can't manage thankfully. I am really hoping it'll be gone all together when I get my custom orthotics next week.

During the cool down walk, I still felt the urge to run so I went for it, counting how many seconds I could go. I got to ninety seconds before I stopped (and I could have kept going). This may not sound like a lot to you, but that is the longest I have run in years. So I'm going to count that as a win.

Well I'm off to go drink some champagne and ring in 2012. Happy New Year everyone!

Day 25-27: Stupid pulled muscles

Weight: 133.4. I am really bad at saying no at Christmas parties. Delicious food though. Worth it?

What I did the past few days: Still working through Hip Hop Abs since I can't do much else. Monday was Fat Burning Cardio and I still haven't gotten sick of that workout. What I love about it is that there's different levels of intensity in it, so you can keep doing the same workout but push yourself more. When I first started I had to do all of the modified moves but now I'm at the point where I'm jumping along with Shaun T.

Speaking of, he'll be doing a guest spot in our area in March - I am so going and getting all fan girl about it.

Now do you see why I workout to his videos?



Tuesday I woke up at 5:30 to get my workout in since I'd be going to a party in the evening. On the docket was Ab Sculpt, which I'm not as comfortable with. About 10 minutes in I started to feel a burn in my back. After five more minutes I had to stop. Yup, pulled muscle. I could hardly move. I managed to get ready for the day, but I'm pretty sure my cat thinks I'm a zombie now after all the moaning I was doing.

I popped some Advil and started icing it, and it started to get better with a few setbacks (physical therapy was rough). Then in the middle of the night last night I woke up barely able to move again. Pop Advil, ice, repeat.  Luckily today is my off day, but it better clear up by the end of the day today.

On a side note, a few weeks ago an old friend of mine signed up for TM (same date and place as me, thank god) and is also blogging about her experience. Every time I read one of her posts I pee in my pants a little (metaphorically). Check out her blog here at Get in Shape to Die.

Last but not least, this weekend was World's Toughest Mudder. It wasn't too far from my house, and I was a little mad at myself for not getting off my ass to check it out. Then I remembered it was cold. Anyway, so I think that regular TM is bad. That's only three hours or so. WTM takes the insanity to a whole new level. As previously mentioned, it's much colder. Oh, and yeah, IT'S TWENTY-FOUR HOURS LONG. The competitors run as many laps of TM as they can. The crazy part? People actually finish it.

Click here to see my new heroes.

Day 21-24: In the exercise doldrums

Weight: 132.4 (One night of eating and drinking and BAM! I'm back up a pound. Grr)

What I did the past few days: Sorry I've been slacking lately with the blog posts. There hasn't been much to report, honestly, and I've been running around like crazy.

Thursday was Hip Hop Abs Fat Burning Cardio (technically Day 2 of the program), and I made my best attempt at finishing my PT exercises (read: I didn't finish them). Friday I had my second PT appointment, but there was a substitute instead of my normal girl. He recommended that I get custom orthotics, which I'm down with, but my doctor has to approve them first. He also mentioned that I shouldn't run at all until I get them. Sigh.

I should have done Day 3 of HHA when I got home but I ran out of time, so I started back up on Saturday & Sunday. I was able to finish all of my physical therapy exercises on both days. It may be in my head but I feel like I am walking somewhat differently.

I'm itching to get back into running, so this has been pretty frustrating. I also feel like I'm not doing enough in general right now, even though I'm exercising almost every day. I'd do more but honestly the one thing stopping me is that I'll burn more calories, and I don't feel like eating more food to make up for it. Uggh.

I need to get out of this funk. I love HHA and want to keep doing it but I need something more to add to it. I'll keep pondering, if anyone has any ideas please let me know.

Day 18-20: I need a massage

Weight: 131.8

What I did the past few days: This post may not be super coherent, I'm completely exhausted tonight. Monday I started the Hip Hop Abs 60 day program. Nothing special to report, other than I love HHA, but you already knew that.

Yesterday was Fit Club at the library, and we did one of Chalean's videos. Honestly, I'm not sure which one. I kind of lump all of her videos into one category: torture. They just make me want to die. Don't get me wrong, a lot of people love her workouts. I'm just not one of them.

The reason? All the pain I'm in today. I really should have done a longer stretch afterwards. Everything hurts today. I guess this should be a good thing, but right now it sure doesn't feel like it. Thankfully today is my day off.

I finally had my first physical therapy appointment today. The PT noticed that my illotibial band is messed up, which is the reason my knee feels like it's going to break when I'm running. So she loaded me up with some daily at-home exercises and stretches to help with that. They must be working, because it already feels like my muscles in my right leg are completely rearranging themselves.

She also had me get a foam roller, which if you've never seen one it basically looks like a pool noodle, except a ton fatter. I basically roll my leg on it in a Twister-like position on the spots that hurt. And man, does it hurt. I was clued in when both the PT and the guy at the place I bought it from said the same thing. It's the best kind of hurt though, and if you exercise regularly I highly recommend one.

Alright, tired girl out. Back to work tomorrow...

Day 16 & 17: Still sleep deprived

Weight: 132.4

What I did today (and yesterday): Remember how I said I was going to really enjoy sleeping in on Saturday? Yeah, me too. Those were good times. Unfortunately, my cat Coco decided she wasn't down with that. At 7AM, on the dot, she started talking. Mrawh? Mrawh! MRAWH!

Sweet adorable kitten, or demonic furry alarm clock?

I tried to fall back asleep around 9AM, but by then it was too late. I spent the rest of my morning grocery shopping, including my first trip to the local health food store. That place is awesome. I loaded up on Almond Milk (for my Shakeology shakes), mixed nuts, raw wheat germ for my cereal, and a few other snacks. I'll be stopping by there often from now on.

My workout for the day was Slim in 6 Ramp it Up, the second video in the series. When I got the set, it said to do each video for two weeks, but for whatever reason when I scheduled the workouts online, it only had Start it Up for one day and then it went right into Ramp It Up. Boooooy was that a bad idea. I couldn't even do half of the moves. I finished the whole video though.

After that painful experience, I decided to do a hybrid program of Hip Hop Abs and Slim in 6. I'll alternate between the Hip Hop Abs 60 day schedule one day and do Slim in 6 the next. In the case of Slim in 6, I'll go up to the next level video only when I'm ready for it.

Today I went over to the Lehigh University outdoor track for Week 1 Day 2 (repeat) of C25k. Here's a summary of my thoughts while out there:

• My new Camelbak is awesome.
• Even though it was a little chilly the sun was out, which was nice.
• Walking is fun!
• Got my new inserts, but they aren't helping out at all. My knees honestly feel like they are breaking.
• Oh my god, make the pain stop.
• Repeat the last three bullets for 20 more minutes.

This was pretty disheartening. Again. I really really really hope my physical therapy appointments will help with this, otherwise I have no idea what I'm going to do. I need to be able to run at least part of the Tough Mudder course.

I spent the rest of the day resting my poor, tired muscles and trolling the internet. I also made a handy dandy spreadsheet to keep track of my diet in terms of the tiers from Michi's Ladder. I use myfitnesspal to log my calories, but I was bored and want to get an average each day of my diet "score." Today was 2.4!

Mmm delicious pizza

Finally I'd like to share this easy recipe with you. I'm really not a big fan of cooking, so anything I make has got to be incredibly easy. It can't get easier than this.

• Whole Wheat or Multigrain Pita
• Pizza Sauce
• Fresh Mozzarella (I use the pearlini so I don't even have to cut the mozzarella)
• Whatever else you want (basil, mushrooms, olive oil, etc)

Just preheat your oven to 350, and put about two tablespoons of pizza sauce on the pita (pick the side that's more bowl shaped). Then just add your mozz on top, and pop in the oven on a cookie sheet. Cook until cheese is melted, or around 8 minutes. That's it. The best part? It's only around 300 calories. Oh, and it tastes awesome too :) You can also use a tablespoon of pesto instead of pizza sauce and put some fresh tomato on it. I'll be making a batch of these but instead of cooking them, I'll wrap them in aluminum foil and stick them in the freezer. That way when I'm extremely lazy and in the mood for pizza, BAM! I've got dinner.

Day 15: What do they say about the early bird again? It's sleepy?

Weight: 131.2

What I did today: I woke up at 5:30 and worked out.

No, really. I can't believe it either. It took me a lot longer to roll out of bed than I anticipated, but around 5:40 I popped in Slim in 6 Start It Up, worked out, took a shower, got dressed, made breakfast, packed my gym clothes, and got to work on time (actually a few minutes early).

I wish it was 8:20 when Clocky woke me up.

I honestly thought I'd be fresh & energized by the time I got to work. Yeah, not so much. I felt pretty much the same I do every morning. I didn't feel bad though, which was a start.

The whole point of doing this in the morning was so I could free up my afternoons for other things, like getting back in to running. So after work I went down to the gym on hopped on the treadmill. I still haven't bought the inserts my doctor recommended but after tonight I'll put that on my priority list. My knees felt like they were going to pop out of their sockets, or whatever they're attached to.

I should probably know that, considering I was an archaeology major in college.

Anyway, I restarted Week 1 of C25k since it's been over a week since the last time I ran. I could probably use all of the practice I can get. After the treadmill I hopped on the elliptical and spent 15 minutes watching Paula Deen make some delicious looking chocolate ball things. Yes, there was butter.

So even though I'm really proud of myself and I'm committed to doing this for at least six more weeks on workdays, I'm still going to super enjoy sleeping in tomorrow :)

*note: Yes, the alarm clock in the above picture is on wheels, yes I own one and yes, it is the coolest alarm clock ever. Google "Clocky," thank me later.



Day 14: Presents from FedEx!

Weight: 131.0 (!!!!)

What I did today: Yesterday was a much needed day off. I wasn't as sore as I was the day before, but with the crappy weather my knees were pretty cranky. But I came home to find this on my doorstep:

Squee!!! I ordered the Hip Hop Abs Deluxe package, which included all sorts of extra goodies, including the weighted gloves. When I first started using Team Beachbody videos, this is what I was introduced to. I had so much fun with HHA, but when I decided to buy my first set, I went with Slim in 6 to try something different. I really enjoy Slim in 6, but I would always find myself missing Shaun T's awesome energy (you may know him from his more recent workout Insanity).

Today when I got home I just had to pop in my old friend Fat Burning Cardio. I must be in better shape than I thought, I didn't have any problems finishing it which I distinctly remember not being the case when I first started it. I even remembered all of the moves, even though it's been at least six months since I did it. I ended the workout with Slim & Limber, I really needed a good stretch.

Also today I really put the focus on what I'm eating. I've been using Michi's Ladder to try to make better food decisions. It's basically a tiered food system where you try and eat as much as you can in the top two tiers out of five tiers. I think I did a pretty decent job today. If you don't what a breakdown of everything I ate today just skip the rest of this post :)

Breakfast: 1 bowl of Special K (T2) with skim milk (T1), and coffee (T2) also with skim milk
Lunch: Shakeology chocolate shake (no tier but I'm pretty sure it's T1), very small piece of homemade pizza with fresh mozz & pesto (T5).
Afternoon Snack: Gala Apple (T1) with two tablespoons of Skippy peanut butter (T4)
Dinner: 4 oz of chicken breast (T2), roasted garlic quinoa (T1), and steamed broccoli (T1)

Not bad for a first try, I think. The pizza on the chart is delivery pizza so I think what I ate was at least marginally better, and the only reason I had the peanut butter (actually, not the only reason, I love peanut butter) was because I was over two hundred calories short of my calorie target before exercise. I felt like I was eating all freaking day, but it still wasn't enough. Go figure. I think it's going to take a while to get used to this.

Day 11 & 12: Workout video pain and cleared to "run" again

Weight: 133.2

What I did today (and yesterday): Slim in 6 was on the docket yesterday. Six months after I bought it and I'm still on the starter video. It's deceptively difficult - my arms are always burning when I do it. Since I need to really work on upper body strength in preparation for TM, I'm thinking I should really work through this. I'm tossing around the idea of waking up extra early and staring my day with SI6, then doing a different workout in the evening. Sounds like a good idea, until I remember that I am most certainly not a morning person.

Today my Camelbak came in, so I ran down to Saucon Valley Bikes and picked it up. Pretty bitchin, right? I was getting irritated with my crappy string bag bouncing around with my water bottle. This should cut down on the bouncing, plus it has reflectors, a key fob, and a handy pocket for my iPhone.

I also had my appointment with a sports medicine doctor today to see what's going on with my foot. After a few minutes of observation (in which I learned that I'm pretty much incapable of balancing on one foot), she said I have some wacky imbalances and some PT will help me greatly. Even better, she said I can get right back into C25k, and recommend just getting a very basic Dr. Scholls insert. Huzzah!

Tuesdays are Fit Club at the library, and tonight was Brazilian Butt Lift. Laugh all you want, but those workouts are killer. They always kick my decidedly non-Brazilian Butt. As a plus, now after the tenth or so time doing it, I'm pretty sure I've got the lambada down.

Finally, please keep your comments coming. I'm still having issues replying to comments, but I am reading them and they've all been really helpful. Thanks again everyone :)

Day 10: Peer Pressure FTW!

Weight: 134.0

What I did today: Since the weather was glorious today (50 degrees and sunny), I went biking on the Rail Trail again, but this time I brought a friend. Definitely glad I did! I noticed a huge improvement today with my seat and handlebars readjusted, but I was still getting tired. My friend kept pushing me to keep going though, and we ended up doing about 7 miles total! It was a little embarassing, I was huffing and puffing and my friend was just gliding along, but I need to keep in mind that there is a reason that I'm going through all of this: I need to get into shape. Every day that I continue with this I am going to get better.

I'm pretty sure this isn't normal

I did notice only an hour or two after biking yesterday some bruising on the inside of my thigh. Today it got even worse. Obviously I must be doing something wrong, but I'm not sure what. It doesn't hurt when I'm riding (actually it doesn't really hurt at all) but it's pretty scary looking. I'll have to pay more attention next time I go riding to see if I can zero in on the issue. 

But then again, I biked seven miles today!! WOOT WOOOOT!!!

Day 8 & 9: Why I love my town

Weight: 133.6

What I did today (and yesterday): Still focusing on low impact exercises. Yesterday I went to the gym and spent thirty minutes on the elliptical. I'm noticing a marked improvement in my stamina on it. Usually I have to slow down because my heart rate gets out of control, but now I can go faster without it getting too high. I also did three of the weight lifting machines (too embarrassed to say what weight I was at). Even after my workout I was full of energy yesterday, which has been an awesome side effect of all this working out. It's actually difficult to be in a bad mood.

I also think I look pretty hot in the new workout clothes I bought myself :)

Today, since the weather was nice, I hopped on my bike for a ride on the rail trail. Try as I might, I can only go about a 1/4 mile at a time and then I have to stop. I learned from a coworker this week that rail trail have a slight grade to them in one direction, which explains why it's so much easier for me on the way back.

When I was wrapping up my pitifully short ride, I accidentally clicked a gear while walking the bike and the bike chain fell off. Luckily for me Saucon Valley Bikes was only a quarter mile away. Not only did they put the chain back on (that made me feel a little silly) but when I complained about my quads burning with the fire of a thousands suns they readjusted my seat and handlebar height, saying it should help. We'll see tomorrow when I hop back on my bike :)

After that was done, I ambled over to the local coffee shop to grab some java and lunch, ran into a friend, then spent a few minutes in the park. All without ever having to get into the car! After years of living in the middle of nowhere I don't think I'll ever get sick of this.

When I got home I did Slim & Limber again, and I'm already noticing improvements in my flexibility. Stretching is vitally important to any exercise - if you don't do it you can injure yourself. I usually do a few quick exercises right after I warm up if I can, but I always make sure to do a good stretch after I'm done when my muscles are warm and stretch-able.

Then I took a nap. And it was awesome.

Day 7: Fridge stocking fun

Weight: 134.6

What I did today: I decided to take on off day since my right foot is still smarting. It's a little weird, after doing some kind of physical activity for four days straight I'm finding that I miss it. I made myself feel better by buying some new workout gear at Target (on sale, of course) and loading up on delicious yummies from the grocery store. And since I have nothing else better to do, I'll tell you what I got and why.

• Skim milk. I love cereal forever and ever for breakfast, and I've always preferred skim.
• Rotisserie Chicken. I hate cooking, but I can't eat out all of the time (sadly). I use a rotisserie chicken as a shortcut: I strip the meat off, separating the dark meat from the white, and freeze the chicken in one cup amounts in freezer bags. Deli meat never lasts long enough for me to eat it and I can throw the chicken in other things.
• Whole wheat wraps. I tried one of these a few weeks ago when I realized that wraps are delicious and found these to actually be tastier than a regular tortilla. Shocker, right?
• Apples! For snacks and juicing :)
• Quinoa. Mostly bought this because it's so much fun to say. Keeen-waaaa! I figure I can throw some chicken or veggies with this for a nommy lunch.
• Dried Apricots. I've never even had an apricot before, so this was a little risky. I had read recently dried apricots are an excellent source of potassium, even better than bananas. Which is great, because I hate bananas. Barf.
• Cavatelli pasta & shredded Parmesan. Throw this with some olive oil and some broccoli and I'm pretty sure I'll have a tasty meal. I think.
• Sun Chips. Needs no explanation.
• Spinach. Taking Popeye's advice. I sauteed some with garlic and olive oil tonight to throw on my wrap for lunch tomorrow. I'll use a bunch in some juice later this week as well.
• Assorted Green Giant steamer veggies. I love these things, it makes eating a side of veg with every meal ridiculously easy. No, these don't have cheese.

All for under fifty bucks :) Most of this should be easy to throw together for meals. I may start really trying to track my calories on MyFitnessPal to see if this helps me get all of my nutrition goals.

As for my foot pain, I've scheduled an appointment with a sports medicine doctor for next Tuesday. In the meantime, C25k is on hold and I'll be doing low impact exercises (my Slim in 6 DVDs, the elliptical, or if the weather is good a nice bike ride this weekend).

Day 6: ow ow ow

Weight: 135.2

What I did today: Today was day 3 of week 1 of C25k. I got off work early enough to run home and get started before it got dark outside. Brrr! The temperature was supposedly 45 or so but it felt a lot cooler. After the 2nd set of running my arch pain came back with a vengeance. It wasn't as bad as the knee pain but it's clearly a sign of something else. I've know that I overpronate (basically I'm flatfooted) and have shoes to help with that, but back when I was walking I was still having issues so I got extra inserts which made a difference. But now I'm pretty sure those inserts were causing major knee pain when I was running. Needless to say I'm feeling pretty disheartened.

After my run I ran over to the library and picked up "Running Injury-Free by Joe Ellis (according to the book plate a donation from The Rodale Press," thanks guys!) and I'm already halfway through. It's kind of terrifying to read. The author keeps talking about horror stories of injuries that were never treated and bones just snapping all over the place. Did you know that women are more likely to get a running injury? Me neither. Apparantly it's those child-bearing hips. Grr. Now I'm trying to deliberate whether I should go by a new pair of sneakers or just cut to the chase and go to a physical therapist. I'll see what the rest of the book says, maybe there's still hope. If anyone had success with a PT in the past please let me know!

Day 5: Hip Hop Abs, All Day Long!

Weight: 135.2 (woot wooooot!)

What I did today: Tuesday nights are Fit Club at the library (my main source of exercise for the past year. Tonight we did Hip Hop Abs Extreme Cardio, which is a supplement video for those who have already done HHA before. I won't lie, I absolutely love Shaun T & HHA. There's something to be said for a workout you spend laughing - in a good way. The guy just cracks me up. I'll be buying the "big" Hip Hop Abs set in the beginning of the new year and I'm really looking forward to it.

My thoughts for now: The biggest thing that has surprised me so far is that I'm barely sore. I've been trying to focus on different areas each day so I don't overwork my muscles. I'm also thinking about seeing a nutritionist for my diet. I would like to lose weight, but I'm mostly worried that I'm not getting enough of the nutrients I need. If you've seen a nutritionist before, let me know what you're thoughts are.

Excited for tomorrow, back to running!

Day 4: I need some new workout clothes

Weight: 136.2 (this better be muscle weight gain...)

Since I ran yesterday and needed to switch it up a bit, I headed over to the local gym for some elliptical action. I ended up talking to the owner for a while, I mentioned that I was training for Tough Mudder and he said that he did it the year before. He's promising to load me up on tips (huzzah!).

The only thing that stinks about the gym are all the mirrors. I'm sure some people find them useful, but all I do when I workout is look at myself and think about how scummy I look in my gym clothes. I bought some real workout pants a while ago, but the rest of my uniform consists of Penn State t-shirts and even more t-shirts. 

Today's Selection

 

 

I think I'll buy myself a new real workout shirt for every two weeks that I stay on target. Unless, you know, I'm broke. Or I find a t-shirt I really like.

Day 3: If I can do this hungover, I can do anything

Weight: 135.6 (scale still broken?)

What I did today: C25k W1D2, Slim in 6 Slim & Limber

Last night was my ten year high school reunion, so I did what most normal people do: drank copious amounts of alcohol. My apologies to anyone I embarrassed last night, and thanks to a friend who drove me home (it was either that or a taxi).

I woke up this morning feeling pretty rough. After a few cups of coffee I finally got my butt outside to start Day 2 of Week 2 in Couch25k, which is the same as day one except five minutes longer. After discussing the major amounts of pain I was in on Day 1 with other people and all of them telling me "Yeah, that's not normal," I ended up taking the extra inserts out of my sneakers. PAIN IS NOW GONE. I could have danced, except I was too busy RUNNING! After a while I was starting to get sore, but nothing like the pain I was dealing with the first time. I had bought those inserts for extra support while walking (the arch in my right foot is collapsing and it really comes out when I walk).

I also downloaded the Couch25k app (thanks Janna!) which prompts you when to walk and run. This is a zillion times better than trying to count the seconds down and having people stare at me like I'm since I can't do this in my head. The app could work better - it kept messing with the volume of my music and I had to restart the program when stupid Apple Shuffle decided to stop playing. I downloaded the free version but will probably upgrade to the paid when the week is up.

I'm horrible at stretching, so when I got home I popped it Slim & Limber. Ohhhh my god I feel like a bowl of Jello now. Slim & Limber is a nice 15 minute stretching program that came with my Slim in 6 DVDs, a great workout program that I've been using for a while now. Now I'm convinced that the whole set was worth it just for that stretch.

I'm starting to get really excited, I might actually be able to do this. Maybe?

(Note: If you want to know more about Slim in 6, please let me know. A friend of mine is a TeamBeachbody coach and I like to support her when I can as she's been my biggest supporter in trying to get in shape)

Day 1: In which I realize my stupidity

Today's Weight: Between 132 and 135 (Thanksgiving was yesterday, I'm hoping my scale is wrong but it's probably not...sigh)

The Story: In a moment of drunken stupidity yesterday, I challenged a marathon runner to do Tough Mudder next year. I called him chicken for not wanting to do it as he's not a fan of being electrocuted (a portion of the event) and said "Hey, I'd do it," or something along those lines. Next thing I know he's got a maniacal gleam in his eyes and says, "Ohhh really?" At this point I have realized I have made a huge mistake, as now my options are #1 not do it and let him gloat for an unknown period of time or #2 actually sign up for it and suffer the obvious consequences. I signed up.

Why? I have been trying to get in shape for a while, but what better way to push myself than sign up for a non-refundable completely insane obstacle course six months from now? Why not?

I tried to find a picture to stick in here but all I got googling "pain and suffering" was people holding their face in their hands. Feel free to picture me doing this.

The Facts (as I know them):

• I am not a runner. This is bad, because it is recommended that to compete for this, you should be accustomed to running 5 or so miles twice a week. I can walk that much, but that's as far as it gets.
• I am only marginally in shape. I've been working on exercising several times a week for about two months now, but it's mostly light cardio and very little muscle building.
• I smoke and drink and eat too much. This may hinder progress.
• I am completely terrified.

The Plan: I'm going to start with the Couch to 5k program (hey, baby steps, right?!?) which you are supposed to do three times a week for nine weeks. During this I will try to exercise another two times a week, slowly adding in muscle building. Once C25K is over, then I'll attempt to increase my distances with running and adding in the Tough Mudder training program.

I'll keep posting here to hold myself responsible, so to speak. I'm hoping people will read and comment during this whole process so I don't use lack of readership as a lame excuse to not post and keep my butt in gear.

What I did today: Registration for TM is already done, Team "The Honeybadgers" created. My office closed at 2pm today so I was able to get home and get on the local rail trail to start C25K. Here's what Week One looks like:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

Easy-peasy right? Well if you're me, you'd be wrong. Walking was swell, but after about 3 seconds of running, all my brain could register was PAIN OUCH PAIN. I told you I am not a runner. I finished though, and I will add that it got about 5% easier towards the end. That's something, right?

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their Black Friday, and enjoy pigging out on turkey day leftovers (I know I will).