The Chairman's Fitness Challenge Blog

I decided to skip the current 52-day challenge, since the combination of a new job, new classes and new support activities (driving the daughter to piano, etc.) made developing realistic goals a total crapshoot in terms of how often I would be able to work out, etc. For the first three weeks or so, I had a really hard time getting to the gym (but I pretty much maintained my weight etc.)

In my quest to find a cardio activity that wouldn't require a half-hour of round-trip driving to get to the gym, I got it into my head that running would be a great alternative! I jogged a bit way back when, running a two-mile circuit a few times a week, but this time around I decided running a 5k race would make a goal to shoot for, attainable but definitely not easy given my current weight and lack of recent running experience.

I found the couch-to-5k program (C25K - click here) and decided it would be my next challenge. Given the working out I've been doing, I decided to start with week 3, and do most of my initial running on a "random" setting on a treadmill at the gym (so much for eliminating the drive!). I'm at the end of week 4 on the program (my week 2) and so far it's going well. I added extra intervals onto the week 3 program to feel like I got a good workout, but really don't feel that need with week 4!

I haven't decided whether to jump into a forum like the MH running forum or one of the others out there - I might lurk on one or two for a while. And now, I'm obsessing about a proper pair of shoes (Stability? Comfort? Reebok, Nike or Asics?) for when I do start running outside. If all goes well, I'm about 5 weeks away from a 5k non-stop run!