Couch to 10k

I decided to start a blog to chronicle my journey through the world of running. First an intro post. I always said that I hated running. Growing up, I took a lot of dance, and thought that running was boring. After school, I stopped dancing, and gained some weight and lost a lot of fitness. It's almost ten years later and I've decided to do something about it.

I dabbled in running a few years ago. I did really great and got up at 5:00 in the morning for a few months in the summertime. Then I stopped for some reason. This last May, I finished grad school and decided that it was time to start again. I had no school, and hadn't found a job yet, so there was no excuse not to do it. So, I decided to use the Couch to 5k program from coolrunning.com. I successfully finished the program about a month ago.

The problem is, I live in Alabama where it is extremely hot. This past week the temperature has been in the 100s. So I kind of slacked off. I ran a bit on the treadmill indoors, but it's just not the same. Somehow I found out about Danny Haralson's Couch to 10k running program. I wen to the informational meeting last week and decided to join. The plan is to run a 5k race, the 10k Vulcan Run and then eventually the Mercedes Half Marathon in February.

I've done three runs so far this week.:

• The first was on Sunday at 4:30 in the afternoon. It was 100 degrees, literally. There are two training groups, 101 and 102. I'm doing 102 since I've been running for a short while. This week we're supposed to run 2 miles each time. It was so hot on Sunday that I could only finish about 1.25 and then had to walk the rest of the way. I was the last of the group to finish along with one other girl.
  
• My second run was at home on Monday afternoon. I waited until 7:00 pm to run when it was only 95 degrees. It's amazing how much difference those 5 degrees make. I was able to complete the 2 miles still feeling pretty good.
• I took Tuesday off and went to the group run at 6 am Wednesday morning. It was dark when I got up, but the sun had come up by the time we began running. It almost felt chilly outside compared to the heat we've been having! Again, I was able to finish the two miles. And again, I was the last person of the group to finish, by a long way. There weren't as many people at the morning session.
  

I try not to let it get to me that I'm the last one to finish. The important thing is that I'm out there doing it. There is another group run today at 6:00 pm. Here's to hoping I'm able to finish this one too.