Fit by 40

Firstly, and completely unrelated to the post title, I've turned word verification back on. Sigh. Silly spammers.

Now, back to the real post. In just a few days it will be 2010. That's a momentous year. For a start, it's a round number and they're always satisfying... but more than that, it's the year in which (dun dun DUNNNN) I turn 40! I find it hard to believe, but it's definitely true. My birth certificate confirms it and if that were in doubt the fashions my parents were wearing in my baby photos would give it away.

Still, 40 is not so bad, right? I mean, I've hardly achieved any of the things I expected but I've achieved many other completely unexpected and wonderful things so I'm more than willing to call it even. This is not like a movie where I find a letter to myself, written when I was 15, speculating on what life would be like for me at 40 - on the whole I think I'm fairly satisfied with my life. However (yes, there's always a 'but', even when I disguise it in a fancier word) there's one thing that's been nagging at me. I am overweight and unfit. Okay, that's two things but they're related.  I have spent a large part of my adult life promising myself that some time REALLY SOON I'll get my act together and start exercising and eating better. Hollow promises, as it turned out, but that's about to change.

I cannot - I will not - start my 40s feeling unhealthy and self-conscious. I'm working really hard on things inside my head; it's time to work on the rest of me too.  I mentioned recently that I've started the C25K running program and that's been going well. It's early days so I'm not feeling any fitter yet but I'm really enjoying achieving each day's goal.  I want to keep going. No, I'm not going to turn into one of those scary, wild-eyed exercise fanatics. Seriously, don't you know me by now?? That's NOT me!  I do, however, want to be healthy and fit.

Fit by 40. I have 11 months to go..

I am feeling sooo smug

Okay, I need to preface this by explaining that I am very unfit and although I have these fantasies where I become a lean, fit, exercise junkie, in reality I don't enjoy exercising that much and I've never stuck at it long enough to get that endorphin hit that those scary exercise fanatics talk about all the time. In fact I've always thought that those scary exercise fanatics are secretly disgusted by people like me, so you can imagine how completely self-conscious and uncomfortable I was dragging my pale flabby body around the gym, surrounded by the aforementioned fanatics.

However, I have reached the unenviable point where my need for exercise is greater than my desire to avoid it. I am overweight and unfit, and that's not great, but I also need to exercise for my mental health to keep anxiety under control and depression at bay. Sigh. When both my mind AND my body need it, what can I do?

Some time ago a friend told me about C25K, the 'couch to 5k run in 9 weeks' program and I think I've mentioned it on here before too (but I can't be bothered looking for it right now). The friend who first mentioned it is one of the last people I would have ever picked as a runner... and then another friend told me she'd been doing it and I would have bet every cent I have that SHE would never, ever run anywhere. So I thought, if they can do it then surely I can at least give it a go, right? There is no way I have enough self confidence to try exercising outside, in public, where people might see me - but as we know I have that nice shiny treadmill that hasn't seen all that much use.

So... today I did C25K W1D1 (Week 1, Day 1) which is 5 minutes of brisk walking, then alternating 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. I took that to mean 20 minutes in addition to the first 5 minutes of walking, so 25 minutes in total. You fit and healthy people are probably thinking this sounds like less than you do for a warm up, but let me tell you this is a big deal for me. It's a very big deal. I have never jogged in my entire life. Admittedly, I was jogging at a speed I could have walked if I'd wanted (albeit quite briskly) but still... jogging. That means there were moments there when this fat and wobbly body was airborne! That usually only happens when I fall over...

I am NOT fit - have I mentioned that? - so by the end of the 25 minutes I was pretty puffed and I think my face was a shade of deep purple often seen as a feature wall in classy homes, but still... I DID IT! I have to do the same thing twice more this coming week and then the following week I get to go to the next step. They recommend doing a pace that you can manage so if it means doing each week twice and making it an 18 week program that's okay too. I'll see how I go.

Anyway, at the risk of blowing my own trumpet... wow, I am so proud of myself.
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