New Clothes are Always a Good Reason

I went shopping today. Addition Elle was having a BOGO type sale on its "active" line. I got two pairs of jogging pants and two hooded sweaters... $200 worth of stuff for $100. Believe me, I'm a happy camper (jogger?) when I can buy cute outfits. I know it's silly and completely unreasonable, but I was so happy with my purchases that I went out for a jog! I'm telling you, retail therapy works.

So, once again, I trotted to my local park to begin a training session. I couldn't get through the whole thing, again, but I'm starting to zero in on why: I really need new shoes. I'm going to take it easy, not push too hard, until I can get a new pair (can someone say early Christmas gift).

I should try again on Tuesday, Maybe I'll have a chance to go buy shoes before then.

(I've been watching Girl Meets World. Was Boy Meets World this terrible? I loved it! This is baaaaaad)

No but seriously... Why Jogging?

So I tried the jogging thing again today. When does it get fun?

I still couldn't get through the whole first workout, but I think I did okay. I mean the fact that I went at all is huge. I actually didn't think I would go. I don't believe in myself.

I think I need better pants. The ones I had on today were too long and slid down. And, I know I need new shoes. Mine are over two years old and have a hole and probably don't support my feet as well as they did.

My calves and ankles hurt the most. Maybe I'm not doing it right? That's why I needed to stop both times. I know that I'm supposed to land on the balls of my feet (as opposed to the heels like when I walk) but it's harder than I thought it would be. This is why I wanted a trainer for the first couple times, but I can't afford it.

I'm going to keep it up, but I'm not going to push myself. The last thing I need it to get hurt.

On another note, I had an appointment with an allergist. I'm not really super allergic to anything. I reacted a little bit to dust and mold (and let's face it, who isn't). I went because I thought I had maybe developed a spontaneous allergic reaction to pears over the summer. The allergist was convinced that I had a birch pollen allergy. But it didn't react.

So. Outcome of today:

1. Allergic to dust. 
2. Allergic to mold.
3. Not technically allergic to pears.
4. Need better shoes and pants to jog.
5. I still don't like jogging.
6. The Body Shop charges way too much for their products, but they are awesome and I love them.
7. Pixar shorts are way too emotional for a 5 minutes film.

Good night!

Someone Explain to me Why I Decided to Start Jogging...

Today, I started my first day of 5K training. While I was only able to do half of the first recommended workout, I feel like it was a damn good start.

I’m not one to pay for things if I don’t have to. This goes for books, TV shows, movies, apps... If I can get it for free, I will. That being said, I paid $3.96 for a Couch to 5K app from Active Network, LLC. So far, I like it. There are four “coach” options, depending on what kind of motivation you need.

There’s Constance, who’s gone through the program and is very encouraging. That’s who I’m using and, so far, I like her.

Next is Billie. She’s described as “no-nonsense” and won’t be your cheerleader but she’ll help you though.

Then there’s Sergeant Block. As his name suggests, he’s the drill sergeant type which means lots of screaming... which some people like, judging by the popularity of boot camp training.

Finally, there’s Johnny Dead. He’s a zombie. I don’t get it, but I guess it’s some people’s thing. It’s not mine.

Look at this cute sports bra! Mine's green.
From Addition Elle.

Over the summer, I bought active wear pants, a good sports bra and I’ve been pretending to take a real interest in my fitness. I already had pretty good running shoes, although they’ve seen better days. I even looked into joining a gym!

I went to a women’s only fitness center that is pretty reputable. I filled out their questionnaire which was supposed to give some insight to how I wanted to go at it. After talking with two different workers, and I got a quote. They wanted roughly $150/month from me. That’s absolutely insane! That’s almost $2000 a year! Who the heck has that kind of money to spend on a gym? Not me, especially if I still want to go on vacation and enjoy my life. Let’s face it, I want to get fit, get into shape, but not at the cost of no longer having a life. There’s a discount gym right near my house, but it’s so beyond basic. There are no trainers to help you use the machines safely. I’ve never really “worked out” (yep, quotation marks totally needed there) so, I’m not sure my random and somewhat lacking CEGEP gym class memories will prevent me from getting hurt. I may join it anyways because some yoga classes should be good for me. It’s only $10/month (which is way more within my price range).

So, I woke up this morning at about 7:45am, determined to start jogging. I’ve been telling myself that I was determined for a while, but I’m just really good when it comes to lying to myself. It took a bit of internal coercing, but I did it. I got up, got dressed, got out of the house by 8:15am. I walked to my local park, turned on my app and started. And felt immediate shame and discouragement because jogging HURTS. I only got halfway through the 30 minute program because my ankle and calves and knee hurt too much, but I figured better doing half of the program relatively safely than the whole workout and hurt myself.

I’m going to try again on Tuesday.