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Off the couch, not quite to 5K

Posted: Monday, Sep. 17, 2012

Photo by: Nathan Abplanalp Photography

Amanda Wilson is a student who has a passion for helping others and is now committed to helping herself. She enjoys spending time with her pup, Gia, being with family and friends and traveling. Contact Amanda here.

When it comes to exercising, I have to admit that I am not very creative with my workouts, but one thing I have been trying to do more of is running.

Every morning on the way to school, I see someone running down Highway 127. It can be cold, it can be hot, it can be snowing or it can be raining, doesn’t matter. As sure as time keeps moving, these people will keep running.

I’ve never been a runner – at all. I played volleyball in high school and it requires a good bit of stamina. Running, however, just doesn’t seem fun. It feels monotonous, boring and just awfully tiring. It can’t be disputed though that it’s a great way to increase cardiovascular endurance and burn some calories.

So, after doing a ton of research online, talking to friends, and gauging some followers on twitter (be sure to follow me @IAmAmandaNicole), I decided to try the infamous Couch to 5K program after reading the rave reviews. The idea of the program is simple: It helps anyone, regardless of fitness level or weight, to be able to run five kilometers in just nine weeks.

I’ve been doing it pretty stringently for a few weeks now and I can definitely see the results. My stamina has increased dramatically – I can run at a pretty high heart rate and incline without feeling winded or completely out of breath. As I said, I’m not a runner – at all – but C25K definitely works.

The next evolution for me is to actually run a 5K. While I haven’t entered into or scheduled one, it’s in the back of mind. Finishing a 5K would give me a tremendous amount of confidence as I continue on my “get fit” challenge.

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