Groundhog Day, C210K and Loser Calendars.

Well it's been a little while since I've blogged, mainly because I've been doing absolutely nothing diet and fitness related.  I mean nothing.  I'm the biggest I've ever been and not amazingly bothered which is worrying!  I do need to do something as the scales now shout at me.  I'm out of the 14s though which has been an ambition for a while, sadly it's the wrong side of the 14s.  I didn't think having a goal of getting back into the 14s would exist!  Alas, the scales read...

15st 3lbs

I've signed up for the Great Manchester Run next May and whilst I say this every year, I'm determined to actually run it this time.  So where does a girl with excess baggage, boobs and a bad knee start with training for such an event?  Well I've come across this little app (oh yes, I'm an iPhone girl now) called Couch to 10K which looks like the perfect starting point for me.  It breaks you into running gently and builds you up.  It's a 13 week programme which seems like a lot but the thought of running 50 minutes constantly seems like the impossible!


Have a look at the schedule, you may want to use something similar yourself if you fancy getting fit, or even training for a run like me...I like the first week personally, 30 seconds running is just fine for me thanks!

Schedule

Week	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3
1	Run :30, walk 4:30, 7 times.	Run :30, walk 4:30, 8 times.	Run :30, walk 4:30, 8 times.
2	Run 1:00, walk 4:00, 9 times.	Run 1:00, walk 4:00, 8 times.	Run 1:00, walk 4:00, 8 times.
3	Run 1:30, walk 3:30, 10 times.	Run 1:30, walk 3:30, 8 times.	Run 1:30, walk 3:30, 10 times.
4	Run 2:00, walk 3:00, 11 times.	Run 2:00, walk 3:00, 9 times.	Run 2:00, walk 3:00, 10 times.
5	Run 2:30, walk 2:30, 12 times.	Run 2:30, walk 2:30, 10 times.	Run 2:30, walk 2:30, 10 times.
6	Run 3:00, walk 2:00, 13 times.	Run 3:00, walk 2:00, 10 times.	Run 3:00, walk 2:00, 11 times.
7	Run 4:00, walk 2:00, 10 times.	Run 4:00, walk 2:00, 9 times.	Run 4:00, walk 2:00, 9 times.
8	Run 5:00, walk 1:00, 10 times.	Run 5:00, walk 1:00, 8 times.	Run 5:00, walk 1:00, 9 times.
9	Run 7:00, walk 2:00, 7 times.	Run 7:00, walk 2:00, 6 times.	Run 8:00, walk 2:00, 5 times.
10	Run 10:00, walk 1:00, 4 times.	Run 20:00, walk 1:00, run 20:00.	Run 22:00, walk 1:00, run 22:00.
11	Run 25:00, walk 1:00, run 25:00.	Run 30:00, walk 1:00, run 25:00.	Run 40:00, walk 1:00, run 10:00.
12	Run 45:00, walk 1:00, run 20:00.	Run 50:00, walk 1:00, run 15:00.	Run 44:00.
13	Run 50:00.	Run 40:00.	10K Run.

The great thing about this app is that you can play your music and a little voice interrupts and says "run now" when you need to run and "walk now" when you need to walk.   No more clock watching (that was why I've given up before, I just couldn't bear seeing how much running I had left to do)

screenshot of C210K app

So the app looks like the above on your iPhone, and the best part is, you get to play your own music!  Usually these things involve listening to some awful dancy type music with bleeps when you're supposed to change your speed.  With this you can train along to whatever you fancy.  Metallica, Paramore and Foo Fighters make up the majority of my C210K playlist.


I've been paying for the gym now for 2 months and I've been once.  Appalling.  I sat and thought about why I don't go and various reasons came up such as "I'm tired", "I don't have the time" etc.  Yet I have the time to sit and watch garbage telly.  I have the motivation to go to the MacDonalds Drive Thru.  Therefore these are not reasons at all, just excuses.  In a desperate attempt to force myself to go, I've started scheduling it into my calendar, the same way I operate at work.  Geekiness rules.

My geeky calendar!

Wish me luck folks.  Again.