That Makes Two

The only thing more shocking to me than starting a running program thingie is that two days after the first “event” I went outside and did a second. Really… the first one is staggeringly unlikely for me. The second… literally unthinkable.

The app I have been using keeps some stats but I haven’t nerded out on them yet. Now that I have two data points for comparison, you can guarantee I’ll be pouring over whatever is there soon enough. Up until now the only thing I’ve checked out was the super groovy GPS map that shows my route. Given that my route is just around the circle we live on, it isn’t anything terribly interesting. More of an oval than a circle. I think it’s super cool though.

Today’s drill was identical to two days ago. Walk for three minutes, run for one minute. Repeat six times. I haven’t looked into round three yet, but I did notice that it’s supposed to last longer. The first two were 25 minutes (that math doesn’t add up… think they are lying to me?). The next one says 33. We’ll see how it goes on Saturday.

I Have Experienced Hell and Lived to Tell the Tale

Wow! Was that ever sucky!

I really thought I was deluding myself but here I am, recapping the first painful, awful, baby step.

Can you dig it?

I just finished the first couch to 5k experience. I neither ran five kilometers nor actually traveled five kilometers. It’s just the first step. The app had me walk for three minutes then run for one minute, and repeat that process six times. I am pretty sure I died during the second run, and then died again during each of the remaining runs. I was planning on going to the movie theater parking lot but when push came to shove I just stayed in the neighborhood and went around the block a bunch of times, ignoring the fact that I was really insecure about all of my neighbors staring out their windows watching me the entire time, which I am 100% sure was happening at each and every house on the street.

What did I learn from this experience?

  • I learned that the coach the app has chirping in your ear the whole time is an annoying person.
  • I learned that jogging is a whole ton more difficult than yogging.
  • I learned that, while I don’t have nearly the loose skin issue I expected I would have a year after gastric bypass, there is loose skin in my world right now and when you start actually running for real, that loose skin literally jiggles and it’s a slightly disturbing experience.
  • I learned that running fucking sucks. I mean I only ran for six minutes but WOW did it suck.

Couch to 5k workout number two will take place on Thursday. Wish me luck.


On a slightly related note, I did make a friend out on the road this morning.

Couch to 5K: Take Two

I installed another Couch to 5K training app on my iPhone today. I did it the other day only to get iCockBlocked by a required subscription plan. This time I was able to get to the training description (run for one minute, walk for three during your first workout) without being forced to pay money. I take that as a win.

The app wants you to do three workouts per week. My questions for myself are, when and where? The when will probably be Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I would rather do Monday, Wednesday, and Friday but Wednesday is my in-the-office day and there isn’t a lot of time in the morning to waste on things like workouts. So I think we’ll start on Tuesday.

The where is another issue. Originally I was planning on just running around the block, starting at the end of my driveway. I don’t know if I want to subject the neighbors to such a terrible site though. Now I am thinking of following my same game plan for car music. There’s a movie theater in town that doesn’t open until well after I start my work day. They have a huge parking lot that often doubles as my recording studio. I think that, starting Tuesday, it might also double as my 5K training track. Either that or the rail trail downtown. Maybe I’ll alternate between the two. Who knows.

Fingers crossed I don’t chicken out on Tuesday morning. We’ll see how it goes. I’m sure I’ll write 236972357 blog posts sharing every minute detail.