couch to 5k

so after my whining yesterday about the baby pounds i've decided to share with you my plan to get back in better shape. i've always been fairly athletic and moderately active. now it's nothing like the two-sport glory days of my high school youth (ha) but, nevertheless, i've been blessed with a body that can move.

i've been doing yoga for about two years now and did it throughout my pregnancy. i feel i deserve bragging rights in that i was able to do crow up until my eighth month. perhaps i could have done it longer but i stopped doing yoga around that time. i work for trade for corepower yoga. i clean their studio and they give me unlimited yoga (a $150/month value). seeing as how i am a stay-at-home mama married to a man who is in the midst of opening and running a restaurant (read: we don't make a ton of moola) this is a terrific set-up.

five weeks after ramona was born i started going back to yoga. i was so nervous about how i would feel because i didn't want to add insult to injury: not only was i a bit flabby but i was scared i had lost any strength i had during the pregnancy. surprise! i felt great. i could do all of the stuff i did up until the 8 month marker and more. in fact, i got to do crunches and twists and other no-nos for pregnant women. i had some pudge in my spandex, of course, and my thighs and jowls are still not as taut as i'd love for them to get back to being but, hell, i could keep up with most of them (yoga in denver, at times, is a competitive sport. you really can't let those skinny-minis get the best of you).

in addition to yoga, i really want to add running to my regimen. i was a runner in high school and college but didn't stick with it regularly after that. i miss it. knowing that i easily get frustrated at things i'm not good at (even more so when i used to be good at it) i needed to find a way to get back in the habit of running without giving up. my sister, beth, introduced me to couch to 5k, this wonderful, easy, accessible, and FREE program that leads you through 9 weeks of running so you can get the hang of running for 30 minutes straight without stopping.

now, i'm positive that, if i had to, i could go out right now and run for an hour without stopping. but i would hate it. my intention of using this program is to get back into running and not hate it. knowing that it's only 20 minutes with a nice warm-up and cool-down makes it easy for me to lace up my shoes and head out to the running path. the music is acceptable and the lady's voice who instructs you is encouraging. i've only done one week but i'll keep you posted on how the rest go.

wish me luck!