C25K

Good morning! I hope that you have joined us for our Self-Esteem Makeover Challenge, if not, please take a moment and check it out by clicking the Self-Esteem Makeover button in the link bar above.

Part of my personal self-esteem battle is my weight and physical fitness level. I've never been a really active person and now that I'm older that has really taken its toll on my physique. So instead of sitting around and feeling sorry for myself, I have resolved to do something about it. That's where C25K comes in. C25K is a program designed to take most anyone from inactivity to being a 5K runner in 8 weeks, based on a 3 day a week plan.

The first week you have a warm-up walk for five minutes, then alternate running and jogging for 20 minutes. They have mp3 and iPod tracks that you can download to work out to that tell you when to run and when to walk. The greatest thing is that I found a website where you can download some Christian music with the verbal cues on it to walk/run to. So I downloaded Week 1 and put it on my iPod shuffle and today I will begin the program. I am very excited.

I will try to post at least once a week on how that's going. Will you help hold me accountable? Part of building self-esteem (we will get to this when we study sabotage) is being able to admit your faults without letting them destroy you. One of my faults is not having very good follow-through. I have a bad habit of starting something and not seeing it through. So if I don't post at least once a week, drop me a comment and ask me if I've given up, would ya?

I found a cute t-shirt on Zazzle that says "I run like a girl" and I plan to reward myself with that shirt when I complete this program. I pray that you have a wonderful day today!!

UPDATE
At lunch I started this program. I am doing this at lunch when I can so that my husband doesn't see what I am doing. I hope to surprise him in 2 months when he thinks I've just been walking and I ask him to go for a run with me.

So I did some stretching, the warm up walk and then the music picks up the pace a little, "And now it's time to run, riiiight NOW" he says and you're supposed to jog for 60 seconds. That first jog went very well. I wanted to stop but I kept on for the longest 60 seconds of my entire life and then, phew, "okay, now walk." You're my hero, man. Walking ensued and I was feeling really great. 90 seconds of walking and then there's that dreaded phrase again "And now it's time to run, riiiight NOW" ugh, okay, I can do this. Then...it happened. My calves cramped up so dang bad I thought I was going to fall over. So I went back to walking and it kinda let up a little. Then, time to run again and OUCH! It happened again. So, I walked back to the house.

I only made it about halfway through the workout, but I'm not going to let it get me down. Two mistakes I think I made, 1) no water before the workout. I mean I drink water all day, but I should have drank a little extra before starting out. And 2.) Not enough or adequate calf stretches. So I thought I would help us both out and post some calf stretching exercises here:

STRETCH 1

-Face a wall and stand 12 inches away from it.
-Extend one leg behind you, keeping both feet flat on the floor and your rear knee straight.
-Lean toward the wall until you feel tension in the calf muscle of the extended leg. (You can put your arms on the wall for support.)
-Hold for 10 seconds.
-Repeat with the other leg.

STRETCH 2

-Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you.
-Lean forward and grab the arches of your feet.
-Pull your toes toward your body until a stretch is felt in your calf muscles.
-Hold for 10 seconds.

My confidence is boosted today for several reasons:
-Exercise releases endorphins, which stimulate mood.
-Because I exercised before I had lunch and then drank a full glass of water, I ate less and still felt full.
-I gave it my very best effort and even though I wasn't able to finish, I did hold on longer than I wanted and I am excited to try again Wednesday.