Outrun the Sun (Fitness Diary 8/14/18)

I was never an athlete. In my high school gym class, students had to be able to run a 12 minute mile in order to pass the class- I had to do it three times. I seriously considered taking the F (and I was not a student who failed classes).

Fast forward to my 20's- I ended up walking to work through a mixture of bad (awful) driving and poverty. For the first time in my life I was half way in shape. I went vegetarian for a few years, trained to run a 5k.

Over a decade later, I'm back to feeling like I did in high school. I don't just eat my feelings, I gobble, inhale, cram, and nosh them. My mom was diagnosed with heart failure, there's been stress at home and at work. There ya go. In April or so I got about 6 weeks into the couch to 5k program, which uses intervals to gradually train people to run a 5k without stopping. I took a break for the move and life, but now I'm getting back on the treadmill. Every other day I'm doing the program, trying to work my way back up to week 6 by completing a week each day. When I'm not on the hamster wheel, I'm working the cycle. The new apartment has a fitness center. It's not fancy, but it's convenient.

One thing that I find motivational is listening to music. There are a couple of playlists floating around with decent music for the couch to 5k program, but it's never quite what I want to listen to when I'm running. So I'm learning to use audacity to create my own. Keep your fingers crossed for me- I'd like to stay motivated this time around, even after school picks up and things start getting hectic. Maybe I can learn to pound out emotions over noshing them.