Forty Days to 5K: Day 1

I know what you are thinking- "40 days to a 5K? Is this girl joking? I could run a 5K today without training." I know, it is embarrassing that it is going to take me 40 days to muster up a 5K but believe it or not, I actually used to be quite the athlete. I played every sport growing up and as I got older I chose to focus on cheerleading, competitively and school cheer. Then I went to college. I went from working out 10+ hours a week and eating whatever I wanted- free of consequence, to coming to college and working out 0 hours a week and still eating whatever I wanted(aka froyo, cinnamon toast crunch, and the chocolate cookies in the BLUU). So I went from looking like this(senior year):

to this(sophomore year):

needless to say I put on some weight, lost every ounce of muscle mass I ever had and was not pleased with the way I looked.  I bitched about my weight and look constantly. I would complain about how fat my arms were or my double chin or my cheeks, my love handles, my cellulite.. the list goes on and on. My friends and parents were always supportive with the "you look fine" and "you aren't fat" but I think I knew I was loosing control of the way I looked and it was time to do something about it. I was sitting with my mom and parent's weekend in a restaurant and began to tear up about the way I looked. So here we are. I have decided to change it. Which brings me 40 days to 5K.

This is a running plan I have done before(the spring of my junior year) so I know that it works. I can't and have never been a good runner. I don't like running, I'm not fast, I don't have a long stride. There are zero things enjoyable to me about crawling alongside the road to the beat of a pop song. BUT if I want to change the way I look and feel, I have to do something. So I am officially picking running as my catalyst.  I plan to run 4 times a week according to a plan(seen below), and the off/rest days walk and do weights.

I do not expect to look dramatically different in 40 days. I am a science student, I know that is not the way the body works. But hopefully I will feel different and be on my way to looking different in 40 days time. I am going to try to make better eating choices and make time in the Word each day to round out this plan for a happier, healthier, more confident me.

So today I walked 10 minutes, ran 10 minutes and walked another 14 minutes. I forgot how hard running was and how out of shape I am. I maybe can't even call it running because I ran at an 11 min/mile pace and was hunched over similar to that of an old lady. But I finished. I didn't quit and I will do it again.

Cheers to progress

(don't let the smile fool you- I was crying on the inside)

The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
    and with my song I praise him.

Psalm 28:7