First post - introduction/week two, day one

First, a bit of an intro.

I'm starting this blog to be completely separate from my other online life. I'm a 32 year old american woman and have been living in Amsterdam for the past 3.5 years or so, and I hate running. I've always hated running. It doesn't mean I dislike exercise, but I prefer to do pretty much anything else than run. My preferred methods of exercising are cycling, hiking, group classes like spinning or yoga, and weightlifting. This makes me sound like I'm healthy, and I suppose I'm in decent shape, but in all honesty I'm in the worst shape of my life. I'm about 5'6 (168 cm) and weighing in around 64 kilos (141-ish pounds). not technically overweight, but my body looks like crap at this weight.

My ideal weight would be about 125 pounds (56.5 kilos). I maintained 125 lbs from the time I was about 22 until pretty much... 30. My weight started to shoot up especially in the past year, and in a really bad way. I've always had a small waist, small arms, I guess a small frame in general. the extra fifteen pounds that I'm carrying around has dispersed itself in a pretty unattractive way, giving me a really mushy tummy and flabby arms. Clothes that I've had forever don't fit me anymore. I had a really bad day when I went to put on my comfy-at-home pants - these kinda ugly but cozy green pants that I've had forever - and they basically didn't fit. they used to be my comfortable pants, and now I can barely get them up. so this has to change.

I started reading a lot of couch to 5k blogs, I downloaded the app, and I'm giving it a shot. part of why it's hard for me to maintain a regular exercise routine is because I travel a lot, and I was always jealous of runners for being able to take their workout with them wherever they go. The weather has also been amazingly perfect, and I was looking for excuses to be outside rather than in the gym, so... here I am. Now, a note about the weather: the weather in Amsterdam kinda sucks. It rains a lot. The winters are better than they are in New York because it tends to not get super freezing, but at the same time, this is not exactly a location in the world that is known for nice weather. but still, this fall has been picture-perfect pretty with a lot of clear day and very little rain. Warm tempertures that made you want to wear a jacket during the day, but no need for hat/scarf/gloves until it gets dark. Anyway, a combination of good weather and figuring that I need a big change - CHANGE! - prompted me to give this whole 5k thing a go.

here's where I am so far:

29 Oct - week one, day one (done, felt good)
31 Oct - week one, day two (done, felt good)
5 Nov - week one, day three (done, felt good)
6 Nov - week two, day one (done, felt good)

so far so good, but of course it's a pretty easy thing in the beginning. I adore the app - even though my ipod touch doesn't do the GPS thing (which means I don't know my pace or how far I've actually gone), just having that little voice tell me when to run and when to walk is perfect. One of the reasons I love group classes is that I really enjoy being told what to do and not having to think for myself (if I'm being honest). I made a running playlist and love that I don't have to keep track of what I'm doing by songs anymore (which I've done in the past). I love that the voice tells me when I'm halfway through so I know when to turn around. and Amsterdam, with all of its flat streets, not much car traffic, plenty of parks (I live near Westerpark), and general prettiness, is a pretty perfect place to run outside.

I don't really cheat that much during my runs, though I do usually tack on an extra minute or two of running to the end of my workout, so my cool down is about 3 minutes instead of five minutes. sometimes I stay out longer than half an hour and just walk around. but I'm trying not to get ahead of myself too early - even though I can run for more than one minute at a time, I'm still a horrible runner.

it's going to be tricky to keep this up as my work schedule is pretty crazy these days and I have class twice a week, but the goal is to do a 5k by the end of 2011. I'm not sure I'll make it - if there's a week of rain and cold temps, I have no idea if I'll really be able to make myself run outside. I have a gym membership but it seems like it would be kinda annoying to do this on a treadmill.

let's see what happens! I'd also love to lose this 15 pounds/8 kilos by the end of the year too, but I think I'm going to need to do way more than just go jogging a few times a week in order for that to happen.