From Couch to 5k -- Learning to LOVE to walk & run

I am by no means a couch potato.  I can hardly sit still to watch a tv show.  But I'm not exactly a runner either.  But I WANT to be. 

I started walking, almost on a daily basis, in the Spring of 2014.  At first, it was somewhat begrudgingly.  (Now, I love it.  Can't wait to go walking each day.  Hot or cold weather.) 

Then I decided, why not start jogging?  Now, I have lost a lot of weight, but still have a lot more to lose.  So running isn't exactly good on my joints, yet.  So I've done some research.  Read a bit online.  Have invested in some good shoes (that I ordered online and am currently waiting for them to arrive!).  I have a passion to run, but not the ability, YET!

So I've started jogging for one minute, then walking for two.  Then jogging for another, then walking two more.  Etc.  Then jogging two minutes, walking five.  Etc.  This is the phase I am still in.  But it has allowed me to get through my first three 5K's this year. 

My goal when I am in a 5K (for now):  1. Don't be last!  2. Do better each time.

The first one, May of 2014, I walked entirely.  It was the Susan G. Komen race.  I did this one with my dear friend, Cindy.  And Cindy, by the way, is the one who started me on walking in the first place.  She was in a competition a few  years back where they walked 60 miles in 3 days.  20 miles a day!  OMG!  Can't even imagine that.  One day at church I told her, "Hey Cindy, I want to start walking with you some day."  And she surprised me and said, "OK, let's do it later this afternoon!"  I was thinking, "But I said, "someday", that didn't mean TODAY!"  But I couldn't say no, so that Sunday was my beginning! 

Susan G. Komen 5K with Cindy
May 2014

My 2nd 5K I did was on the Texas A&M campus in College Station.  I mostly walked it, but did some jogging.   I got to do this one with my sister, Angelee.  My nephew Parker was with us, but he's a runner and left us WAY behind!

Texas A&M Campus CS 5K    Oct  2014
With Angelee

Two weeks later, I entered a 5K at Kiepersol Vineyards.   It was called the Corkscrew 5K Trail Run.  I guess I should have paid more attention to the "corkscrew" part.  Because it was a twisty, winding path up hill, after hill, after hill.  The highest elevation was 220 feet!  And I'll be honest, this one just about did me in.  I jogged more on this one than the other two.  But my time was the same as the A&M 5K because of all the hills. 

Kiepersol Corkscrew 5K    Oct 2014

And I'll be honest about something else:  Pinterest SAVED me on this run.   I have a board titled "Fitness".  I use it for exercise ideas, but also for motivation.  And truly, as I was going up these MANY STEEP hills, the words from my motivation board kept playing through my mind. 

Mind over matter.
Push yourself.
Your fitness is 100% mental.  Your body won't go where your mind won't push it.
Unless you Puke, Faint, or Die, Keep Going!
Your legs are NOT giving out.  Your head is giving up.  You GOT THIS!
Our bodies are capable of anything.  It's our minds we have to convince.

and finally, when others were passing me and I was tempted to judge myself,

Fitness is not about being better than someone else....it's about being better than you used to be. 

I am not a runner.  But she's in me somewhere.  And I am determined to find her!