Every Day I'm Shufflin'

Well......every second or third day!

Hi again! It has been a while between posts - about a week and a half actually. Things have been really busy with work, travelling for work, and fitting in training sessions whenever, and WHEREVER I can.

I have been keeping up my exercise bike sessions at home, and also Body Pump class twice a week, kickboxing on a Wednesday night and Body Balance once a fortnight (the class times for that class unfortunately do NOT work with my schedule!)

3 weeks ago though, I started something I never thought I would want to do - run. Ugh. Just the thought of it makes me shudder. Ok, maybe not so much anymore, but it still not my best friend.

In the past I have had my attemps to run described many ways.
#1 - the chicken run - short legs and arms bent at elbows like wings, flapping around as I make my way accross the road.

#2 - the nana run - stooped over back and awkward limp like movements. Quick! Someone hand this woman a walking frame.

#3 - the shuffle - this is the style I am still working with. Feet don't come too far off the ground, arms swinging side by side, and generally getting along ok, albeit at a fairly slow pace.

Inspired by my wonderful friend SpeedyReidy: http://speedyreidyrunning.blogspot.com/2011/07/asics-10km-training-its-about-time.html and her return to running, starting with a run through London last weekend; I decided to start a running program. To learn to run well. Mish keeps saying running is the best way to lose weight, so why not give it a proper go I say! The one I chose (after a successful recommendation from a friend) was Couch25K: http://www.c25k.com/ Just make sure if you look at it, you convert from the miles to kilometers.

My first session was a cool Brissie morning. I hadn't got the podcasts onto my ipod yet, so instead of following the instructional audio track, I was planning following the interval times for running and walking on the stopwatch on my mobile.

New adidas running shoes laced and ready to go, I set off!

24 minutes later, including 1 x 5min warm up and a succession of 60seconds running, and 90seconds continuously, I approached my final 90seconds running:

I will surely continue to update you on my running training as it progresses. 3 weeks in and it is going well. I was really stoked when this week I managed to run 1km without stopping on the treadmill at the gym. I didn't feel too fatigued, but had to stop as my gym class was about to start - shall see if I can increase this next week.

Till then, I shall keep shufflin'.