I completed Week 6 Run 3 today… 5 minute warm-up walk, 25 minute run, and 5 minute cool down! I am proud of myself considering I couldn’t have imagined running for 25 minutes straight 6 weeks ago. I do have a running history, so I knew that I could do it in theory… I just didn’t know I could do it NOW. I love how when I start to make healthy changes, I feel a ripple effect of increased motivation to make more positive changes in my life. For example, these past 6 weeks I have been hearing the call of my yoga mat, and have tried to get on my mat daily, even if only for 5 minutes. I can relate to the idea that “An object at rest, stays at rest. An object in motion, stays in motion.” Taking on the couch to 5k challenge at this time in my life has been all about jump starting from my post-pregnancy inertia.
On May 15th, we celebrated my older sister Katie’s 39th birthday by running a 5k. My sisters Katie and Becky ran together up front and were my inspiration and cheerleaders. So strong and amazing. My dad and my husband, Kelly, joined me for the run/walk series, complete with Kelly pushing our 9 month old Joseph in the jog stroller. Becky, Kelly and Joseph will join me June 19th for the culmination couch to 5K run. I am excited already!
The kissmyblackass.org running podcasts have been essential in the training process. The rhythm and beat of the music have helped me get my body in motion, even on days like today where I felt heavy and low energy. The music styles have expanded from the Hip Hop selections of the first few weeks. However, those Hip Hop days were my favorite runs. Don’t get me wrong, I can appreciate 80′s music and the Teen Pop mix, but these styles don’t have the same propelling effect as the down and dirty Hip Hop grooves.
During week 3 I had an interesting experience with one of the song choices… You’s A Ho by Ludacris. I gotta say, the chorus has a catchy tune. It really sounds to me like it could be a theme from a classical dirge. And it gets stuck in your head. I found myself spontaneously singing it at work… “You’s a ho. You’s a ho. You’s a ho. I said that you’s a ho.” I started to realize what a crazy message this was to have stuck in my head. I had a revelation about negative self-talk: the way it is similar to having headphones in your ear playing a tune over and over again. I tried to explain this metaphor to a client, using the example of hearing “You’s a ho!” over and over in my head, encouraging her to take off the headphones of the current negative self-talk and replace it with a new message. I thought it was a brilliant metaphor until she told me upon her graduation from Tapestry that her most memorable individual session was when I called her a Ho.
I feel inspired to create my own Couch to 5k running podcasts, using music choices that inspire and empower women. My hope is that the songs supporting the runs would leave catchy choruses with positive messages stuck in your head. This will be an ongoing project, as I know it will be challenging to find time with everything else I am balancing in my life at the moment. The Embody Yourself Couch to 5k running podcasts… if you have song ideas, please comment!
Oh yes, we did it! Couch to 5k complete. 1st 5K post baby. My little sister, Becky, and I ran the Summer Breeze 5K in Charlotte on Saturday. We had fun reminiscing about past running adventures while we ran, and feeling grateful for our Dad from whom we learned the joys of running. The race was organized so the men started a half an hour later than the women, so Kelly and Joseph decided to lay out of this one. They joined Becky’s husband, Mark, and their son, Solon, to cheer us on at the finish line.
