Couch to 5K...

I have been thinking about the C25K program again. I ran a 5K a few years ago. I used this program to get me there. If I want to make a lasting change to my life, I have to find a way to exercise that I can do anywhere and love long term. I want to try running. I don't know if I will ever love it, but it is something that I will be able to do anywhere, without any equipment other than shoes, and that will help me build a routine to keep up a healthy lifestyle. It's something I can do with friends, or Leif, if I choose and I can challenge myself with it by entering local fun or competitive runs. 

There's another reason I want to start running, and it doesn't have to do with my physical health. It does, however, have to do with my spiritual health. As I think about what it means to run with perseverance the race before us, I realize that I have never really run with perseverance. I don't know in practical terms what that means. And I will never know unless I actually try to run with perseverance. I don't think I can run with perseverance if I don't start running, so the most practical way it seems for me to start is through something like this. 

So I want to run the C25K program. 30 minutes, 3 times a week. I can do that. I can especially do that with some accountability and a lot of prayer. So please, hold me accountable. Ask me how I'm doing. Ask me how my running is going. And above all, pray for me. Because this is not just about my physical health but also my spiritual health, I am guessing it might require more than just willpower. I am expecting some opposition. But I am resolving that, even with opposition, even when the going gets tough, even when it hurts, or is inconvenient, I am going to do this. Because I was made for more than couch-potato-dom. 

So here's what it looks like. Next week I start running. Ideally, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, but 3 times, whenever it is. The workout looks like this....

Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.


I like to finish with a 5 minute cool down, for a total of 30 minutes. 


Right now I'm walking on the treadmill for 45 minutes. I have about 5 minutes left. I have been walking 2 mph, but today I upped it to 2.5... I'm hoping to make it up to 3 mph as my brisk walking rate. That's what I'm working toward.

Every day, little by little, I can reach my goals.