Couch To 5K....the Beginning

I started the Couch to 5K program this morning. I snagged the free app for my iPhone, dropped the treadmill down, and set to work. I'd like to say that I enjoyed it, but let's get real. It's exercise. I may be brash and uncouth, but I do NOT like to sweat...unless it involves working in my garden in the sunshine. The point, however, is not to enjoy the exercise, but to force myself to do it because it is necessary for my health. Hopefully I can keep to that fact until the time comes that I DO enjoy it.

I've mentioned before that I totally suck at taking care of myself. I acknowledge this. I'm not talking about the way I eat...I'm not too shabby in that department. Sure I have a weakness for Krispy Kremes, but I only give in to that weakness 5-6 times a year. I've been a vegetarian for over a year now, so my diet consists mainly of vegetables and fruits and I always choose whole or multi grain products. I'm talking about taking care of my body, my skin, my hair, my nails, my psyche. Those are what I put on the back burner. Then I find myself sitting like a blob, feeling depressed, wondering why I'm not happy with myself. Publicly admitting this huge flaw is my way of forcing myself to do something about it. I'm constantly nagging the youngest kiddo to exercise...while I'm sitting on the couch. Huh? Yeah, like that's  going to work.

So, Week 1 Day 1. I started out with a 5 minute warm-up at 3MPH. Brisk for a beginner, a snail's pace for someone fit. The workout is spread into eight 60 second jogging segments, and seven 90 second walking segments. I got through the first 2 jogs at 4.5MPH, but felt like I was about to die when it got to the third. I dropped to 4.3MPH for it, then 4MPH for the last four. Not athlete quality, but I got through it and I was PROUD of myself! The walking segments I maintained at 3MPH. The 5 minute cool down was 2 1/2 minutes at 2.5MPH and 2 1/2 minutes at 2MPH. At the half-way point I really doubted that I was going to make it through. I found myself thinking, "It's okay to just walk through the next jogging segment." That brought my up short. What. The. Hell?! I have NEVER been a quitter. As a matter of fact I've always been quite happy to prove anyone who said I couldn't do something wrong. Yet, there I am, telling myself to go ahead and quit. SCREW THAT! I pushed myself through. Reducing speed, yes, but still jogging...and you know what? That feeling of defeat left. When I got to jogging segment 6 of 8 I told myself I could do it. By the next to the last segment I believed I could do it. When the final jogging segment ended? I always knew I would do it. I felt great! Sweaty, yet accomplished. Exhausted, yet exhilarated. Shaky, yet standing strong.

The program is just 3 days a week, so I'm off until Tuesday. I'll spend tomorrow telling myself that I. Did. This. Because I did, and I need to focus on that in order to force myself to continue doing it.

Introducing...

Lucy Lou Bragg. She was born on February 12, 2009, and adopted us as her own this morning. After we got her and were headed home we had a quick look over of her registration papers. Imagine our surprise when we discovered that her mother's name was Lady. Divine intervention, anyone?


x-posted to Pet Portrait Wednesday & my LiveJournal.

An Uplifting Message from Mother Nature . . .

So we all know that life goes on - even when we really don't want it to. It's been a hard week for me, I'm suffering a lot over the loss of Lady and focusing on the positive and uplifting has been near impossible. I'm driving myself crazy, not to mention those that have to deal with me in any capacity - so I'm drawing myself up short. Yes, Lady is gone. Yes, I miss her like crazy. Yes, I fully recognize the fact that this will be for quite some time.

It's also time for me to realize, however, one simple fact. Loss is essential to life the same way that new growth is. Case in point? My garden. Every fall/winter everything goes away. All the beauty browns and fades, leaving behind a shallow imprint of what was. Then spring comes, and with it a burst of new growth that is as essential as air. This dawned on me this morning as I was coming back in the house from taking Bradley to school. I looked to the left of the porch as I prepared to climb the stairs and was struck by the beauty of the bright, spring green shoots on my pine shrub with rain drops glistening on them.

So, I've taken a few pictures. It's amazing just how much brighter everything seems now that I've done this. It's as though, by taking the time to appreciate what Mother Nature has placed before me, I've also created a cleared path to a new chapter in my life. While I don't expect everyone to find hidden meaning in pictures of plants I still thought some of you may appreciate the beauty that is spring, so decided to share. Enjoy!