5K Goal

I'm training to complete a 5K in February.

I have the 5K all picked out and I'm at the end of my first week of Couch-to-5K. The workouts are being done on a treadmill with a 1.0 to 1.5 degree incline.  My walk is 3.0 mph and my jog is 3.5 mph.

My speed, or lack thereof, was getting me down until I realized that 10 weeks ago I was unable to walk for 15 minutes on the treadmill at 2.5 mph.  I would get up to speed and my heart would start pounding in my chest.  Sweat would begin to pour down my arms and face.  By the time I would reach 15 minutes, I knew I needed to slow down.  And I did.

But I returned the next day to do it again.

Fifteen minutes turned into 20 minutes.  2.5 mph turned into 2.7 mph, then 3.0, then 3.2.  Twenty minutes grew by 1 minutes each week.  I was doing more and it was feeling better.

Ten weeks ago I would have sworn I would never be able to jog.  I was afraid I'd hurt myself again.  I was afraid I would fall flat on my face and be too embarrassed to ever return to the gym.  I was afraid my butt would giggle and it would hurt like when you jump up and down without a bra on.  As it turns out, none of those worries really needed to be worried about.  Walking at 3.5 mph didn't feel right even after 2 weeks of attempting it.  One day I broke into a slow jog and it felt right.

Hence the goal.  Right now I don't believe I can finish a 5K without my body feeling punished.  My body has done a lot of wonderful things and I've done a lot of awful things to it in return.  I don't want to punish it more.  But I need a goal to work towards.  Something to focus on and get me out of bed each day.  Just like I gradually overcame my never-gonna-jog hurdle, I want to see success gradually overcoming the complete-a-5k goal.  I'm starting to believe that I can change a little at a time.  I hope this is another step in getting there.