Week 2

This weeks post should probably be called 'stuff that gets in the way' or 'reasons why I might generally give up'. Hold on a sec, don't panic, or shake your head with a little wry smile of knowingness. I have completed week 2. I wouldn't say completed against the odds, more like completed despite the odds.

There's been some bad weather, some bad form and some hangover issues. There have been a few tense moments on the Fernhill Road and a few down right nasty moments on the bypass but, I am very happy to report, Abbie managed not to quit, and I managed not to sack her. (and believe me I'd definitely be the loser in both situations)

Despite aforementioned hangover, Day 3 was definitely the least taxing. I noticed that the burn in the legs starts much later into our session than the original 40 seconds and the heartburn (seriously) didn't start till I was nearly home.

I'm glad I've had a crappy week. It has shown me that 'Opt - in - Sara' isn't going to be swayed lightly.

Week 1

The challenge is to build the ability to run 5k in only 8 weeks. The method is to follow a preset routine of exercise that I downloaded to my itouch. It's as simple as that. Thank you C25k for a great app and off we go.

I should explain also that the 'we' part of that statement is not royal or figurative. It refers to my 18 year old daughter Abbie. She is fit as a fiddle and needs an over - weight, over - zealous mother plodding along side her, 3 nights a week, about as much as she needs a hole in the head. However, seeing as she is studying quite intensively at the moment, I think she is viewing this as 30 minutes light entertainment. It's good to laugh, they say.

So we settled on Tuesday and Thursday nights, and Sunday mornings. 30 minutes a go. Sure how hard could it be?

Day 1
I checked the screen of the iTouch during my first jogging section and was shocked at how long 40 seconds can actually seem, seriously, legs burning after 40 seconds. As my brain grappled with the possibility that this could quite probably be the longest 8 weeks of my life, Abbie caught my pained expression and thought I was trying to be funny so I played along. Then came the magic chimes and the voice from heaven telling me to start walking. The rotating stints of walking and jogging made the 30 mins bearable and, by the time I got home I had a strange feeling that I had not felt for a while. Took me a minute to put my finger on it but yes, there it was..... Achievement! Peppered with a the tiniest bit of self belief.

Day 2
Sunday morning is a change in venue as we decide to go for a nice flat stint by the river. Absolutely lovely, until that is, we turned around and the wind that had been coaxing us along nicely, hit us in the face. Nothing like brain freeze to take your mind of the fire in your thighs.

Day 3
By any standards this is a busy house. Tuesday nights crank it up a notch with TaeKwonDo lesson, PA meeting and a standing arrangement to meet a friend. So, when I find myself tying my runners at 9 30, I am surprised not only at the absence of that old feeling of stress and obligation around exercise, but at the fact that it has been replaced by something new (something kinda ooh!). I am straining at the bit! Despite the time and the shocking weather, we are off out together and in great form. Brilliant.

Week one down - seven more to go. I think I've got the mind bit sussed, here's hoping the legs follow!

I honestly don't know what has prompted me to change. I only know that something has already changed in me. Weight, and the gaining and losing of same, is a preoccupation I have had most of my adult life. I only ever wanted to be thin. For some as yet unidentified reason, I now want to be fit. 

For years, the upside of that physical state to me, would mean wearing size 10 clothes and looking hot. Even having been in that condition for quite a few years, I never wanted to exercise beyond the occasional ramble in the Comeragh Mountains with post - exertion respite in the form of a 5 star guest house with an equally stellar restaurant. 

I have made 'opting out' an art form. With 'not really my thing/working on my tan/reading my book/minding the baby' style excuses on holidays ensuring that I have missed out on quite a few experiences out of sheer bone idleness. The 'too tired/too busy/just not my thing' mantra's at home have enabled me to pile on the pounds and feel pretty crap.

It ends here. Or should I say, BEGINS. Build the ability to run 5k in 8 weeks is the challenge. 

And for the first time ever........I'm opting in