Running like a crazy...I mean, like crazy!

Hey guys!  I have never had a desire to have a blog, but Steve and I started running 2 weeks ago today, and I find myself wanting to talk and think about it...a LOT.  So, rather than annoy everybody on FB by making my every status update about running, I thought I'd start a blog. About running mostly...but also life in general.

I'm feeling fabulous lately! We started a diet, sorta randomly, back in...idk, April or May called the Belly Fat Cure. It's a really awesome diet, because it's easy. You still get to have a good amount of carbs, you just make them whole grain. And you really cut back on sugar...to the tune of 15g a day, which is a tiny amount. It's much easier to follow and much less restrictive, so you really stick to it and it works!  And there are plenty of sugar-free alternatives out there for when you get a sweet tooth. Anyway, since then I've lost about 20 pounds, and gone from size 12 to size 8!

When we started the diet (I'd rather say lifestyle really, but that sounds so cliche!), I also started creating my own little workout routine at home...I have a set of hand weights, and I bought one of those big fitness balls for situps, etc. and I just started doing my own thing. Which worked pretty well in combo w/the diet, but then came school!  I got so busy with homework & grading that the exercise sorta went out the window. That is, until Steve & I took the dogs for a walk a few weeks ago...

The dogs had so much energy that we ended up running for a few blocks at a time, which gave me the desire to change our walking to running!  So I went home and googled training schedules for a 5k...we found a nice easygoing 12-week schedule and started the next day. 

The first 2 weeks consisted of 1/1 intervals...one minute running then one minute walking. We progressed from 5 to 8 to 10 intervals the first week, and then from 10 to 12 to 15 intervals the second. Today, we upped the time to 2/1: 2 minutes running then 1 minute walking, and did that 6 times. It's a pretty ingenious system for non-runners (and that's US!)....it really develops your endurance slowly but surely.

Steve is an amazing partner in life. It was my decision to start running. Of course, I would have loved to have him do it with me, but I never asked him to. He just jumped right in, and he continues to push us just a little bit further. In our first 2 weeks, there were several times that he pushed our final interval to 2 minutes so we could finish strong. And today, for our first day at 2 min at a time, we pushed ourselves to do 3 on the last interval. He likes to give me a lot of shit about not liking to run, but I think he's just letting me be the strong one :) 

I've been doing a lot of reading about running...I even signed up for 2 free trial issues of Runner's World, which really cracked Steve up. But for me, it has to sort of become an obsession or I won't care enough to do it.  We're taking Glucosamine so our joints stay healthy, and I make Steve stretch afterward so we don't get injured.  I feel better already, physically and mentally!  I think it was helpful to get into the diet for several months first so that I was at a healthier weight and ready to take it to the next level. I feel healthier, and I feel excited about being healthy. And I'm especially excited about doing it all alongside my husband :)