Woo hoo! Who woulda thought?

Week 3 was really hard. I went with a friend M, W, F, and have to admit that I was the one who pooped out occasionally. We were supposed to do 4 min. on, 1 min walking on Monday & Wednesday--Monday was fine, Wednesday was pretty good, Friday we did a couple of 3 1/2 & 4s, but also did a couple of 5s. Today I went by myself, and I will readily admit that I picked a route that was mostly downhill--I figure this is the time to just try to do the sets and there's plenty of time and room for more intensity later. But it felt really, really good. I definitely feel better than I did when I started out (less stressed), even though some of it was a little uphill, wind full on in my face, no shoes (jk), and I was able to do 6 min, 10 min, 5 1/2 min, 10 1/2 min! 37 min, only 5 of it walking, 3.2 mi! Yay! I made it all the way down to the 5 Points roundabout. Yes, I think I've gained a small notch on my "slightly cooler mom" status. True, Josh can go faster walking in place, and true, it was barely catching air, but it does give me encouragement for the 5K I signed up for on Thanksgiving Day--maybe I'll actually be able to do it!
I feel good about getting my body in shape and especially feel so blessed for my good health--no knee, ankle or back pain or anything else to hold me back.

Week 2

Week 2 was even better than week 1. I was pretty freaked out about trying to run 2 min, walk 1 min, but it worked out really well. I had a friend with me on Monday & Wednesday, and we went down to Main St., which is pretty level. It was really hard both days but I don't think Wednesday (run 3 min, walk 1) was harder than Monday . Friday and Saturday was run 4 min, walk 1 and while Friday was hard again it certainly wasn't harder than Monday or Wednesday, and today (Saturday) wasn't bad at all. Thursday was probably the hardest day--it was a walk day, but I had to get up early to take care of things with the swim team, had lots of orders to fill, and there I was at 4:30 doing my walk. I was just so worried that if I found an excuse to not do it I would find it easier to find excuses on other days as well.
I have been reading several books on dieting and beginning running programs and they are all a little different. One idea keeps coming up, though, and that is that if you're having a hard time accomplishing a walk/run program it's probably because you're going too fast. I think that one of the big reasons I haven't been successful in the past is that I try to start off running in our neighborhood where you can't go 3 steps on level ground. So I was on my treadmill on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I did the walk/run at 4.5 mph for the run, and 3 mph for the walk--barely catching air. But I was able to accomplish it! So I am feeling like starting off very slowly will work for me. There is always room to increase intensity later--either go faster or utilize these hilly streets in the area, or both. For now I just feel really good to be working toward a tangible, worthy goal.
Can't wait for the 5K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day!