Lacing Up

Hi, I’m Angie, and I’m a rebel. I’m a guest Polly this month (*squeal like a 12 year old*). And I’m doing a blog post
that isn’t about scrapbooking. That’s how I roll. I’m going to talk instead about RUNNING.

Every new year is always full of renewed hope and promise. It’s always “our” year. The year we are going to make it all
happen. Lose weight, get in shape, have more patience, quit smoking, cure the common cold, you name it!
Not that I’m the expert on goal setting or anything, but I think that one problem people face with many of their “New
Year’s Resolutions” is that they make them too vague. If you just say you want to lose weight, or run a 5k, or get in
shape, you make it incredibly easy to put it off. Might as well wait another couple weeks, I still have 11 months!
What’s one more week?

How about trying something more concrete? I’m a runner, so of course I think everyone should love running as much as I
do! Have you ever thought about running? Maybe you tried, and failed? If you want to make a more solid resolution and
start running, I highly recommend the Couch to 5k program! I bet you might have even heard of it. It starts with 60 seconds of running, and builds up to a 5k over 9
weeks. Anyone can run for 60 seconds!

4 years ago, I weighed 260 pounds and couldn’t run around the block. Today, I run marathons and am a certified running
coach. In 2011 I worked with over 40 people who thought they’d never be able to run, and helped them all finish their
first 5k. They were old, young, thin, overweight, out of shape, smokers, you name it! So, when I say “you can do this”,
I mean it. I’m not some college athlete who now goes around winning races or anything. I’m a former fatty that did the
Couch to 5k program myself nearly 3 years ago, and it literally changed my life. My first run was just 100 yards, and I thought
I’d die. And at the risk of making this entire post seem like it’s all about me, here’s the picture to prove it:

Ok, enough about me already. What do you need to do?

• Well, you need to find your way over to the Couch to
  5k site and print off the program.
• You need to get a decent pair of REAL running shoes. (Although I did mine in a cheapo pair from Sams, I definitely do
  not recommend this, as I ended up injured and blistered.) If you have a running store near you, they can analyze your
  gait and get you in exactly the right pair. It makes a huge difference. I could go on all day about different strides
  and gaits and body mechanics, but if you fall asleep at the keyboard, you won’t be out running!
• You need to take that first step out the door.

That’s it. 3 days a week, 30 minutes a day and in 9 weeks, you will be running 5k (that’s 3.1 miles, by the way!). In
fact, I think you should find a local race that’s a few months out, and register for it right now. It’s amazing how much
paying that $25 will motivate you to stick to the program.

Running burns about 100 calories per mile. More if you’re overweight! I’m all about the efficiency!

And, look, I even got my daughter into it (watch while I bring this post back to the topic of scrapbooking… PRESTO
CHANGE-O):

Kit is Sass Mouth by the Tattered Pear, Template by Amy Martin (Hodgity Podgity 11), Alpha by Rachel Young (News to Me)

Don’t forget to scrap YOUR journey!! I totally cringed when I said the word ‘journey’. I clearly watch too much Biggest
Loser.

Feel free to shoot me any questions if you have them. I’d share my love of running with the whole world if I could. I
won’t lie to you, this program will be hard. You will think you can’t do it. You will want to quit. But you will push
through, you will find out you are stronger than you ever thought possible, and you will make 2012 the best, and
healthiest year yet!

And one last thing… Community support can not be topped!  Hop on over to the forums, where we have quite a few runners willing to cheer you on, and run along with you!  You can almost always find another person starting Couch to 5k at the same time you are.  Or, consider a <a href=”http://www.dailymile.com”>Daily Mile</a> account.  It’s like the Facebook of exercise, and they are SO super supportive. Plus, it tracks your miles.  I was able to see that I ran 1200 miles in 2011.  1200!!  Crazy!

There’s no better time to start than RIGHT NOW!  If it’s important, you’ll make time for it.

“What distinguishes those of us at the starting line from those of us on the couch is that we learn through running to take what the days gives us, what our body will allow us, and what our will can tolerate.” -John Bingham