This morning at the gym, I decide to start the Couch to 5K program…again. Now, before you think that I don’t stick with anything and that is why I am starting again, let me explain.
Last year at this time, when I was pregnant with my now 9 month old, I got into an exercise rhythm that eventually lead to me, my husband, and our 2 older children completing 5K’s even though we had never participated in a race before in our lives. We walked them at first and by my 6th; I was jogging a majority of it. I was hooked on these 5K’s. I couldn’t wait to have the baby so I could actually run the entire race.
After my daughter was born, I started walking the day we brought her home. I worked up to starting the Couch to 5K or C25K as some of veterans like to call it, at week 2 postpartum. What is amazing is that I had stuck with it, and I actually liked it (I used this Couch to 5K app). I finished the program in about 6 weeks, just in time to run my first race- The Walk a Mile in Our Shoes to Benefit St. Patrick Center 5K in St. Louis, MO on August 17, 2013. It was a great first race to run.
Shortly after the race, I started another program similar to the Couch to 5K that was to get me ready for a 10K. My goal was to continue to progress onwards from 10K to half marathon to marathon. That never happened.
As an old supervisor once said, “the best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray.” That is exactly what happened. I probably should have researched the running program a little closer to see that they were advancing me too quickly from week to week. I am a very competitive person and did not want to “re-do” a training day because I couldn’t complete it as it was intended.
Because of that mentality, I ended up severely injuring myself to the point that it was difficult to even walk. My physical therapist friends and coworkers advised me to stop running for awhile.
Despite my intense desire to continue, the pain was more intense. So I stopped working out altogether. That depressed me. I was sort of an adrenaline junkie and even though exercise was oftentimes uncomfortable and hard to fit in my schedule, it really made me feel good. But, I let life get in the way and never lost the baby weight. That depressed me even more.
So for Christmas this year, I asked for a gym membership to Planet Fitness and I have been working my BUTT OFF. In the 105 days I have been logging my food and exercise into My Fitness Pal, I have lost 32 pounds with diet (Paleo) and exercise (circuit training and cardio). I am FAR from where I want to be, but I will not stop until I am at a healthy BMI.
These are the songs that got me through my Couch to 5K run today.
1. Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)-Kelly Clarkson
2. Stronger [Explicit]-Kanye West
3. Walking On Sunshine-Katrina & The Waves
4. Happy (From Despicable Me 2)-Pharrell Williams
5. The Walker-Fitz &The Tantrums
6. We Run The Night (Edited) [feat. Pitbull]-Havana Brown
7. Take It Off-The Donnas
8. Stayin’ Alive (2007 Remastered)-Bee Gees
9. Fat Bottomed Girls-Queen
10. It’s On The Rocks-The Donnas
**You can hear these songs below on computers
Six months postpartum & ready to shed the last of the pregnancy weight – P90x3 ?!
