Fit[ter] by 40 - Part I

As the day looms closer, I figured I'd set up some fitness goals for myself. Not because I want to be Jack Lalanne fit, but because I have a nephew/niece, friends/family and just a lot to stay around for.

I've flirted with being active most of my life and except for periods of 3-6 months here and there, I've done an ok job at it. Eating is a whole other issue though. I'm a far cry from terrible, but I can definitely do better.

So, that leads me here. I've decided I'm going to start training for a 5k as well as getting ready for P90X in October. I'm a firm believer in working your way up gradually into any new routine and I see no reason to change that now. As a part of my healthier living, I'm also going to just be more aware of what I eat. I'm going to start focusing on more whole foods and just cleaning up my eating habits.

I'll be keeping a running log (pun intended) of my routine and progress. I'm not big on scales, so I'll probably do weigh ins maybe every couple months. If I do it more than that, you have permission to tell me to stop. You also have permission to yell at me if I EVER start counting calories.

I'm doing the Couch to 5k program along with my regular biking, but with any new thing I had to get some sweet gear. So, with some help from Wendi I went and got some proper running shoes. Then, I went and got some socks, a new iPod Shuffle and an SPI Belt. Stuff motivates me, what can I say?

I opted to go ahead with the Couch to 5k podcast instead of just timing myself. (although I was totally thinking about buying a runners watch) I had this moment of paranoia that I would be so focused on my breathing, pace, form, the squirrel that just ran in front of me, the biker that I swear is looking at me, etc.. that I  would lose track of how many run/walk rotations I'd done. (Yes.. these are the things I worry about)

Week 1 (Day 1) - I found out really fast how unaccustomed my legs are to impact type exercises. I made it two rounds of running/walking and had to walk the rest of the routine. My shins were throbbing, so I decided that I should probably just take a week or two to just walk and then fire up the running program. My 5k date is in October, so it's not like I'm in a rush.

On the bright side, I walked 2.75 miles this morning and will be doing that 3x a week (and might even try to sneak in a 4th time) and will see how I'm feeling by the end of the week.

Sometimes quickly... sometimes slowly.