1 down, 17 to go

Hello, blogosphere! It’s been quite some time since I posted here on The Antivanity. I’ve been wanting to get back into posting for some time, and I feel sufficiently inspired now to start again!

A lot of things have converged in recent months to motivate me to start working out again on a regular basis. 1) My recent discovery that I have a blood clotting disorder has made working out essential, but until the start of this year I hadn’t quite figured out a routine that I could really stick to. 2) I tried last year to do Couch to 5k training and I let it beat me—I’m ready to defeat it this time! 3) I’ve wanted to do the Walk to End Alzheimer’s for a couple years now, so I’ve finally committed!

I’ve decided that, in order to keep myself accountable, I’ll post some (hopefully weekly) updates to the blog about my progress. I’m a creature of habit and I love lists, so I made this handy spreadsheet to track my progress:

As you can see, today I officially finished Week 1! Couch to 5k training is normally 9 weeks long; but since I’ve never had any conditioning at all, I found that training was too hard for me last time, and I gave up. This time, I’m spreading the training out over 18 weeks, doing each week twice. This will coincide with the Walk to End Alzheimer’s almost perfectly, which happens 18 weeks from today! The WEA is only 2 miles, but I’m pretending it’s the 5k I’m training for to keep myself motivated!

The C25K training includes 3 days of cardio training a week, so I’ve added two extra days to that: one yoga day and one weight training day. The yoga is more of a rest day, and the weight training is wicked hard, so it’ll balance itself out.

While I’m tracking my progress by distance jogged, number of workouts a week, and even weekly photos of myself, I’m not tracking my weight. I almost included it, but I will stand by my conviction that if I work out and eat well for the next 18 weeks, I’ll look and feel better, no matter what my weight is!

I’ve never felt more able and determined to stick to a training program—this is it! I think having the WEA at the end of training is the charm that makes me feel so resolute. Alzheimer’s took my grandfather’s life and devastated my family, so I feel very passionately about both fundraising and taking care of myself for the cause! If you want, check out my personal WEA page for some details and ways you can help.

Look for more updates in the coming weeks!