Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Me and the Couch to 5k

For the last five weeks I've been participating in a Couch to 5k program. Basically, it's designed to take people from sitting on the couch to running 5 kilometers (3.1 miles). There's an irony here though, because I don't actually believe in running unless there's a fire, or a bear, or maybe a tornado.. Essentially, it's against my religion. But, like riding a motorcycle and shooting a gun, I think it's an important life skill. You know, just in case.

So I started the program with three women from Boot Camp (a whole different story for another day). The overall program is about intervals of running and walking. The first day was 60 second runs followed by 90 second walks. Or maybe vice versa, but there were 8 run/walk intervals and I thought I was going to die.

As I am still writing some five plus weeks later, I clearly did not die.

This week, week five (but really week six because we did week four twice) is where things get much more difficult and I have not given up the possibility that this will be the week I meet my maker. I am not looking forward to the experience.

And here's the thing, were it not for peer pressure, I could quit. Peer pressure has never really gotten to me, so this is a totally new phenomenon. Basically, there is one woman who I told to join the little band of former couch potatoes and if I quit, she'll kill me. So either I die running, or I die not running.

All I know, is that once I finish this program, I better encounter a bear. Or a tornado.