Jogging Off the Jiggly

Well, here goes nothin'. I have decided to take on the Couch to 5K Running Program! Yay for New Year's Resolutions, right?! Let me back it up; this didn't come completely out of nowhere. 

I am a fad-follower, for sure. If there's a workout craze, I'm going to try it...do it for about a month (if that)...get bored (or irritated with the lack of results)...and quit. Zumba, P90X, Daily Cardio, Yoga, Pilates, discounts at the gym, treadmills, personal trainers, etc. You get the idea. Obviously I haven't stuck with anything OR I would have already created a blog about one of those things. I usually got bored, ran out of money, or came up with some other excuse to stop. 

I have always wanted to be in shape and fit, but I bore easily. Go ahead and over-diagnose me as possible ADD (every one has a touch, right). I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted, and stay thin and healthy. THEN, my 20's hit. I moved out of my parents' home, moved in with my boyfriend (now-husband), I applied for a strenuous teacher-education program I completed a strenuous teacher-education program, got engaged, graduated from college, moved to a different town, started my first teaching job (teaching 7th grade, no less), and got married ALL WITHIN ABOUT 4 YEARS! Needless to say, I was stressed. My bored-eating, stress-eating, celebratory-eating, I'm-just-a-great-person-eating, I-got-this-on-sale-eating, my-mama-loves-me-eating, and general whatever-the-heck-I'm-feeling-I'm-going-to-eat-eating turned into some stressful poundage. Even though I don't look too bad, I don't feel too good either.

So, I'm doing something about it. My husband has been telling me for years to stop talking, talking, talking and actually do something. This has covered a lot of topics, but the fitness genre, in particular, really hit home. 

My best friend and her husband have recently joined a gym and are now working out hardcore three mornings a week with a personal trainer. That's right, I said mornings. NO THANK YOU! However, I am a follower of some sorts and decided I'd get in shape too, in light of the recent stressy things. My best friend is sometimes my greatest motivator. 

I recently heard about "The Happiest 5K on the Planet"...also known as The Color Run 5K . It looked like SO MUCH FUN! True to my fad-following fashion, I attempted to train for this last year, and long story short, I acquired insanely painful shin splints and it took me a very long time to recover. I'M BACK AND I'M TIRED OF EXCUSES! I called my bestie and she agreed to train with me (even though we live 90 miles apart). We've got outfits picked out and t-shirts in the making...and the event isn't even until April. April 6th to be exact...92 days from now. Woah. 

I tried signing up for a trainer, but for unforeseen reasons, that didn't work out (one of them being connected to my other New Year's Resolution: to save more money). I decided I could train all alone for free.  I downloaded the C25K Free App for my iPhone and I love it. It's voice-guided and you can play music behind it and everything. Easy-peasy-nothing-offensy! Sidenote: my favorite music app is Songza . It gives you various playlists based on days of the week, times of the day, activities, etc. It's fun and changes things up from my usual Jazon Mraz list, which is not the most ideal for starting a kick-butt running program (sorry, J). 

I used to be an avid runner...like 10 years, free of bills, and 70 pounds ago.

After an outpouring of love and motivation on other social media like Facebook and Twitter, I decided to help keep my momentum going and start a blog. It's important to note here that I am still a trend-friend-follower because Bestie started a blog, too.  

So here goes nothin'! I'm signing up for the 5K and I'm ready to go! Please don't let me die.