The Couch to 5k Challenge

I am ridiculously out of shape. I have a pretty decent body, I'm fairly slim and for the most part I look about the same as I did before babies (aside from my hips being about a mile wider now). But I have no stamina and little tone. I never really got into a steady exercise routine after poppin' out Duder and I've been a little unhappy with my body for it.

I've been hearing about the Couch to 5k (c25k) program for awhile from various places - the main one being knitting forums and podcasts (go figure. I guess we're all bad about sitting around and knitting rather than exercising). So I decided to look into it and see what it's all about. There are various sources of information, but the one I found was iTunes. I just searched for c25k and found the podcasts put out by Christian Indie Broadcast. Those were the only free ones I found, but their may be others. You can also find sources on the internet if you search for it.

It's a serious of 30 minute podcasts, one for each week, set to music and filled with audio cues telling you when to run or walk. The first week starts out with short running intervals and longer walking ones and the program builds you up slowly over time.

So I tried it out yesterday, running around my back yard and I have to be honest and tell you that it kicked my butt. Boy can I tell that I've been sitting on my butt for almost a year. But I got through it and I decided I'm going to stick with it. I think it's just what I need to lose that little bit of extra "fluff" and tone up. So, here I want to post my goals and plans, in order for you all to hold me accountable. And maybe you would be willing to join in!

Goals:
- Lose inches, not necessarily weight (I weight 116 lbs for goodness sake). Get rid of the baby fluff that I can't seem to shake.
- Tone my legs and hopefully get my dancers legs back. Or runners legs, I suppose.
- Get my nice butt back.
-Be bikini ready by the time the season comes (if it ever does... Cold in May? Really??)
- Build up stamina so I don't get winded by getting out of bed. (Ok, it's not that bad, but you know what I mean.)

Motivation:
- Ben. He seems to be my motivation for everything I do, but especially keeping myself looking good for him.
- Previously mentioned bikini season.
- Keeping up with my kids.
- Feeling less guilty about eating pasta and southern food (You know, the exercise would balance it out. ;P)

Timeline:
- Oh I don't know. As long as I need. The nice part is you can repeat each week's program as long as you need. But I am hoping to be up to the last one, week 9, in 9 weeks. Which would be around July 12th.
- I plan on running 3 times a week - Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Once I start getting used to it, I might add in another day or two.

My legs are killing me, but that means it's working. And I have to say I felt really good last night after I was done (once the stitch in my side went away.) So...

Who's with me?