Couch to 5k: Throwing in the Towel

Okay, I have to admit it, I'm a quitter.

I am officially giving up on Couch to 5k. Sorry, but it isnt for me. I've been struggling with running. Not only that, but I have been so dismayed that I've been neglecting my healthy eating. That's no good. Eating crap and barely running has made me feel depressed and I'm 90% sure I have gained weight and inches this week. Ugh. I'm normally not so defeatist. It's only Thursday and I think I've already failed. I need a change.

I know the quote is traditionally "Do what you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life", but the above image really got me thinking. When I was lifting free weights, I was psyched to go to the gym. Since hurting myself, I've been totally uninterested in exercising and eating healthy. Since my doctor won't clear me to lift yet, I'll be on the hunt for a new exercise that I love. Up next? Yoga!

Couch to 5k: First Impression

Periodically,  I'm going to be testing different fitness trends. First up is Couch to 5k. For those that haven't heard about it, it's supposed to be an easy introduction to running. Woth just nine weeks of training, a couch potato can run a 5k.

One thing you should know about me: I'm not a runner. I have short legs, I'm prone to side stitches, I throw up when I run a quarter mile straight, and I had pneumonia a few years back which scarred my lungs. I'm really not a runner.

Why the hell am I doing this? Well, I've never been any good at running, not even as a kid. I want to be able to say I can run. I want to prove to myself that I can do it. It's that simple.

 Yesterday I tried day one of Couch to 5k. The directions were simple enough. Five minute brisk warm up walk, then alternate between running 60 seconds and walking 90 seconds   for a total of 20 minutes followed by a five minute cool down walk. This sounded pretty reasonable...until I started doing it. The first minute was good, but the 90 seconds of walking wasn't enough to really catch my breath. Things went steadily down hill from there. I stopped running when I had two running intervals left. I felt like I was going to barf. Barfing with a hernia is a bad idea.

Not a great first run for a program that claims to ease beginners into running. Has anyone else tried Couch to 5k? What were your thoughts?

For those of you wanting to give this a try, the guide can be found here and I reviewed a Couch to 5k running app here.

App Recommendation: Couch25k

There are a lot of different Couch to 5k training apps. The one I like is by Zen Labs and it's free. Why do I like it? Just like Lift (which you can read my review on here) it's easy to use. It even has the warmup and cool down built right in.

You scroll from side to side to select what week and day you're on, then just press start. A woman's voice says "Begin warm up." When the warm up is over she once again speaks up, "Begin running." What I especially like is that it runs in the background and you can listen to a playlist or Pandora. It automatically turns down the volume of your music, givea you instructions, then turns the volume back up.

My favorite featurw though, as silly as it sounds, is that it tells you when you reach the half way point. As someone who runs down the road, its nice to not have to check the time to figure out when to turn around.

Want to check out the app for yourself? Here is the link to the official webpage and it can be found through the PlayStore.