Run, Miss M, Run!

I have been gaining weight. Since the first week of January, I've gained about seven pounds. This is pretty bad when you consider that I only put on TWO during November and December! Yikes, right?

I mean, it was bound to happen. I don't exercise at all and the eating is very good around here lately. I made pizza on Sunday and discovered that I had eight different kinds of cheese (Tillamook cheddar, Vermont Extra Sharp white cheddar, Brie, Gruyère, Provolone, Parmigiano Reggiano, Mozzarella, and Black Diamond 5year aged White Cheddar, in case you were wondering) in our refrigerator. I get upset when my husband dumps out my bacon fat now. I bake bread a few times a week.

I was just asking for my ass to get fat.

I know I had mentioned on one of my monthly goal posts that I wanted to try the Couch to 5k program to get myself moving again. I even downloaded this app to help:

It's pretty cool. It lets you pick music from your iPod, it tells you when to run, when to walk, and when you've reached the halfway point, you can set it to tell you when you're close to finishing, and it will even brag on Facebook or Twitter for you that you've completed your workout. It also looked nicer and more polished than the other app I saw for this that had good reviews.

(Yeah, I suck like that.)

The problem was that I never got off my butt to actually start the program. I kept thinking that I'd do it on the days that my husband telecommuted, so that he could watch the baby. That hasn't really worked out because he's had a lot of meetings and trainings at work that have thrown his telecommuting schedule out of whack. I didn't really want to take the baby with me because we don't have a jogging stroller, just a plain, simple Maclaren Volo.

Basically, I was lazy and had a bunch of excuses.

Today, I decided no more. I had my husband leave the stroller (usually we just keep it in the car) and decided I should at least try it out. I pulled the tags off the special running shirt with moisture-wicking fabric that I bought in October of 2007 and had allowed to languish in my closet ever since. I laced up one of my THREE pairs of running shoes (in which I never actually ever ran), put my hair into pigtails, grabbed the boy and headed out the door.

Here's what I learned:

1) Don't run in old underwear. If you do, they will start to slide down your butt the second you begin to jog. They may even slide all the way down to where only the crotch of your pants is holding them up. There will also inevitably be some old man running behind you so you won't be able to stick your hand down your pants and yank them back up to where they belong.

I ended up sticking my hands in my pockets, one side at a time (the other hand on the stroller, still jogging) to pull them up past the elastic waistband on my pants so they'd stay put.

2) The baby is actually okay with sitting in the stroller for that long, especially if there are pigeons about to catch his interest. The only downfall I could really find is that the handles were at an awkward angle and not terribly comfortable to hold, but still manageable. Also, sometimes my feet would kick the back of the stroller a little. This happened more toward the beginning when I had more energy and was taking longer strides, I guess.

3) I really need a water bottle. I think I'm going to get a 27 oz Klean Kanteen in the active pink color. (I'm still mad at Sigg for the whole lying about BPA thing.)

4)I'm hopelessly out of shape. I was in bad shape before I got pregnant but could still move okay due to my occasional gym visits and my dance pole. Halfway through my pregnancy it got to the point where I could barely climb up the stairs to my apartment without getting winded. I was so tired all the time, and then even more tired once the baby came, that fitness of any sort was just not important to me AT ALL. Hence, it was a no-brainer that I would be in the worst shape of my life right now.

I had no idea just how bad that was though. Day one of this program has you alternate between running for a minute, then walking for a minute and a half. That didn't sound so bad when I read it, but let me tell you, it was HORRIBLE. That chime would sound to mark the interval, and I would want to cry. My lungs burned. My ankles screamed in pain. My legs felt like heavy tree trunks. I was burning up and sweating like crazy even though it was only 62 degrees outside.

All this and I only made it halfway.

That's right. My fat butt managed to do the five minute warm up and then was only able to run another 12 minutes or so before I had to give up and sit on a bench to rest. That, my friends, is some serious out of shape-ness!

So, what can I do? All I can think is that it HAS to get better, right? I'll just keep doing day one until I can finish, then move on to the next day. I'm supposed to take a day off in between, so I'll be trying again on Thursday. Wish me luck!