Get in Shape, Girl

At the end of February, I was contemplating getting a gym membership. This was a big debate because since I'm unemployed I'm trying to be more wise with how I spend my money and we do have a small fitness center at our apartment complex that I can use for free.

I haven't had a gym membership since I was 20 and living at home. Up until the point I was laid off, I used the fitness center we had at our office, which was awesome, especially for the 3 years I commuted from Glendale to Anaheim. Working out after work helped me miss traffic and work off the stress of the day. And before that I used the gym at UC Santa Cruz which had an amazing view of the ocean.

So to join 24 Hour Fitness or not was the question. But then I started thinking. I own a bike. I live a mile from the beach. I have a few good workout DVDs. There is a fitness center here that I have free access to. Okay, so maybe I didn't need to pay a grip in gym fees, I can just use what I already have.

After some more thought I decided that maybe I should give running a try. But I hate(d) running. I was the kid that would more or less walk the entire mile during the Presidential Physical Fitness Test in elementary school. I bought Nike+ awhile ago because I would try to run on the treadmill occasionally, but I always got terrible shin splints, so I never worked up to running very far at one time.

So I decided to give the Couch to 5K program a go, again. I had actually started it once a couple years ago, but busted up my foot/ankle so I stopped and never started again. This time I wanted to do it and see it all the way through. Since I already had the Nike+, all I needed to do was to buy some new sneakers and download the C25K app to my iPhone. Much cheaper than an initiation fee and monthly dues. And I can run to/along the beach. Not so bad.

March 1st I started. The first week is 3 days of alternating 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes (plus 5 min warm up and 5 min cool down walks). This was doable, but definitely a workout at the time. My muscles were strong, but my lungs, not so much.

(I love my Nike LunarGlides! Super light and comfy.)

Fast forward to yesterday and I finally completed the program! (Although 2 weeks late because of being sick.) It's kind of amazing to me that I can run 3 miles straight and not want to die. Actually it's really amazing. And I'm actually starting to enjoy it. Sure, some days still suck and I would rather just walk or do something else, but at least I know I can do it.

What's great too is no more shin splints! Not sure whether it's the new sneakers or the fact that I'm running on pavement and not on a treadmill, but no complaints here. And hey, I also lost 10lbs, which is always nice before bikini season.

So, it may be ambitious, but I'm hoping to work up to 8 miles by the end of the summer, which would mean running to the pier and back. And maybe even run a half marathon at some point...but let's not get ahead of ourselves.