Well, as I've mentioned before, I don't like exercise and thats why over the years I've NEVER managed to stick to any kind of exercise plan. My hubby started running about 2 years ago and has been nagging me to start running too, but I've always resisted it. Then, out of the blue, on 3 Jan 2011 he again said the 'running' thing and this time, much to my surprise, I said "okay". I started the next day, rather haphazzardly LOL. I had no running gear and no shorts even vaguely comfortable enough to run in so I borrowed a pair of hubby's running shorts (Yip ladies if you want to wear the pants in the family, thats the way to do it hehehe). I ran in a T-shirt and my old trainers.
My first run was actually a run/walk. I walked to warm up then ran a bit, then walked, then ran etc until I had managed to get once around the block (approx 1.2km's). I didn't want to overdo it and get injured or too stiff, cause I knew that would be the knell of death for this exercise program LOL Slow and easy wins the race or so the tortoise would say :-)
I quickly discovered that for ladies, running is not that comfortable. Boobies, believe it or not, can be a problem and the bouncing, although maybe pleasant for men to watch, isn't pleasant for me. I told hubby that if I'm gonna do this, I need to get 'kitted out'. So, that evening we went shopping and I came back with 2 running shorts (mens ones, cause the ladies ones are pathetic *sigh*), 2 sport bras (and I went a bra size in the process - why, I have no idea), some running socks and 2 plain, loose cotton T-shirts.
While we're on the subject of sports bra's let me just complain a little. I don't consider myself that well endowed in the booby dept (34/36B), so I had thought I could get a lovely sport bra that I had seen advertised in a mag. MUCH to my disappointment, said sport bra only came in S, M & L and let me tell you that L was so small I could barely get it over my head, yet alone anything else.... Then came the shock of finding that all of a sudden, I'm a 38B (where the hell the extra came from, who knows). Eventually, after much trying on of different sizes and types, I did get two that were okay and actually fit.
As already mentioned, I got men's running shorts cause they are so much nicer than the ladies ones - not necessarily in looks, but definately in material and fit. The running tops are so ridiculously pricey that I just went to the local supermarket and got 2 cheap T's to run in. So now I'm all kitted out and ready to go, with one problem, we're going camping the next day. I knew that if I stopped while we were camping, that I was likely to stop altogether so I decided to run while on camp too.
Believe it or not (and I felt it hard to believe myself) I did in fact keep up with my run/walk every day while I was camping and treated myself to a lovely swim in the empty (it was real early) river. That was the best swim of the day, with me the only one there - what bliss...
When I came home from camp, I started a new routine. One day I would briskly walk the block with 1kg weights in each hand and the next day I'd do my run/walk the block. As time when on, my run sections got longer and my walk sections got shorter. I still can't run the whole block yet, BUT I WILL GET THERE. After a while, I added an extra walk round, so one day I'd walk twice round the block and on the run/walk day, my second round would be mostly walking with the middle section a run. Slightly more than a month later, I'm still at it, much to my surprise.
At that point, I was still saying that I didn't want to do races, I was doing this to get fit and lose weight. Then, the other day, while on FB, I saw this ad on the right side of the page about a 10k Challenge and when I follwed it, it was on Shape Mag and they reckon they can get anybody from a couch potato to a 10km hero in 12 weeks. For some reason, that seemed very exciting. I saw a way to take this to the next level with a great scientifically formulated program, so I immediately signed up. http://www.shapemag.co.za/challenges/10k/
I'm going to be starting the new program on Monday and have Mon, Wed and Fri as my 'work' days cause that works out easiest for me. I was a bit worried about going from exercising 6 days a week, to just three, but many people say this program works, so I'm gonna go for it anyway. I am doing a bit of weight work every day with dumbells, so I'll carry on doing that and maybe some yoga too.
I've decided I'm gonna comit to doing a 10km race in April, so hopefully I'll be ready by then and I've even decided to join the same running club as my hubby. I still can't believe that I've gone from vehemently refusing to run, to wanting to run a 10km race, but I can't tell you how proud of myself I feel. Even though I hate waking up early, somehow waking up at 5.30am so I can run, doesn't seem that bad. So, Carol is well and truly on the go......
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