See Jane Run...

I have a new goal for this year.  (Well, for the first HALF of this year at least.)  I am going to run a 5K.  I know, I know...it's not a MARATHON.  But for someone who has become as unfit as I have over the last year or two, this is a big deal to me. 

The seed was planted for this when a cruising friend of mine (hi Brandi!) got herself off her couch and started training for a 5k.  She did it through a website/application called Couch to 5K.  I saw her posts that kept popping up on her Facebook page, following her progress.  At the time, I thought, "Good for Brandi!"  I knew she was trying to drop some weight and I thought it was a great goal for her.  I was excited for her the day before Halloween when I saw her post her pictures from her first 5K. 

Fast forward four months to me sitting in my living room on my couch, reading a book.  For some reason in the middle of reading, I had a realization hit me.  I am SOOOOO out of shape!  Okay, I didn't just realize this.  It's been creeping up on me for awhile now.  (We all remember the muffin top?  That should have been the first sign.)  So when I thought about this last night, that weird little part of my brain that remembers stuff I didn't realize I remembered told me that there is a program out there to help a beginner like me get back in shape & have a goal to work towards.  I did a search for the Couch to 5K program and started reading.  This sounds really good!  I got out my phone and did a Marketplace search for the Android application and found the free C25K Lite.  (The more advanced version costs money but not only a couple of dollars--so if I don't like the free Lite version, I may decide to use the other one.)

While on the Couch to 5K web site, I noticed that you can do a search for 5Ks in your state.  I put in Idaho and lo & behold the See Jane Run Women's Half Marathon/5K came up.  Oh..My...God.  It's actually called See Jane Run!  How can I NOT do this?  Even better, it's just two days before my 43rd birthday.  What a great way to celebrate my birthday, by getting fit and feeling like I really accomplished something!  (Not to mention the race ends with chocolate & champagne, lol!)

So there's a reason for me telling you all of this....I want to be held accountable.  I figure the more people I tell about it, I can't slack off and not do it.  People will hopefully ask me, "How's it going with your C25K program?"  I am one of those people who is often driven by worrying about what other people think of me.  If I know that people will think I'm a big fat quitter for not seeing this through, then telling everyone about it definitely helps.  Progress updates will be posted to my Facebook page through the C25K application. 

I hope I have a good sports bra....

Too Big For The Bed...

My dog Zoe is a Dachshund/Border Collie mix.  I know I posted a story about how she came to be part of our family at one point, but try as I might, I can't find that post!  Grrrrrrrrr.....  Oh well, I'll get over it.  Basically she looks like a Standard Dachshund (larger sized than a Mini) but with slightly longer legs and shorter ears.  Did I mention she looks like a sausage?  She's a little...uh..."big boned" right now.  Yeah, we're working on that.  (We'll be taking lots of walks when the weather warms up).

 

So since she's a little on the "large" size, she tends to sometimes try to fit in places that aren't necessarily a perfect fit for her.  Case in point:

I bought this bed for her when she was smaller...not only in size relative to her age, but also in size relative to her girth.  I'm not sure why I've kept it--maybe it's like when we women save a pair of smaller jeans, determined that "someday" we'll fit back into them.  I love how she's just kind of spilling out onto the floor, completely oblivious that we are snickering at her from across the room...

Or....maybe she isn't so oblivious....

Way to make it work, Zoe.