Day 1 - I feel my legs! I have legs?

Being a computer nerdy-type, I usually start counting at zero. Force of habit, you see, from 6 (yea, 6!!) years of undergraduate schooling. I didn't start yesterday because I felt like it was too hot. Right off the bat, I started wrong. All wrong, wrong, wrong! I was hoping to find inspiration, some drive, motivation, oomph, or whatever may get me going. I didn't let it happen yesterday, and I'm kind of ashamed.

However, I did let it happen today! My legs hate me now. I just got done doing an interval (more on that later) 30 minutes in length. Lets see...60 sec. jogging, 90 sec. walking, that's 2 and a half minutes. Divided into 30 is (yes I need a calculator...I need to brush up on my mental math too!) 12 (I did that in my head, for real, and checked it!) I just ran for 12 minutes - and not even consecutively. On the down side, that's a ridiculously small amount. I know friends my age who can run many times that. On the plus side I haven' run 12 minutes straight in 5 years (I did it once, once). Its a start, to be sure, but an auspicious start indeed!

I feel great. Amazing. Stupendous! If I feel so good after a workout, why does it take such a monumental effort to get me to one in the first place? That's a puzzle for another day. My legs burn with the great fever of effort, and I've sweat a great amount, being the shape that I am in. I enjoy this feeling. I also enjoy the feeling of entering the house after a hard run like this, and feeling the wash of cool conditioned air washing over my body like a pool of cool water. That's an amazing feeling too.

How did I accomplish this all? I used a system called 'intervals', which are exactly what they are named. They are intervals of running and walking over a period of time, with you running more and more as you progress through the overall workout. Normally you'd require a stopwatch or other time-keeping device to assist, but I have the power of the almighty podcast! If you have iTunes, a desire to run at a good pace (I loved it!), and an MP3 player, search for 'C25K'. Then download the PODRUNNER: INTERVALS podcast. I started with First Day to 5k.

What these podcasts are is a sick collection of techno tunes that are engineered to set a pace for your feet. They thump with a certain BPM (beats per minute) to tell you whether to walk or to run. You are give audio cues when to increase or decrease pace. The music in these in most excellent - I love techno myself. When it is telling you what pace to run, you find your feet carrying you along at that pace with few cares in the world (except the desire for sidewalks!).

I will carry on Thursday, Day 2 (or 3. Not sure how they number the days).