THE JOURNEY BEGINS

Today was the day that I stopped talking about getting off my butt and moving toward a more active lifestyle and finally did it. I have been planning to start the Couch to 5K running program for about 3 months but have been plagued by such severe back pain that I kept putting it off.

A little background: I ruptured a disk in my back in 2005 and since then have another disk that has herniated. I got another epidural injection last January but the pain has continued to get worse. Last Tuesday I took my newest MRI films and had another appointment with Dr. Macadaeg. He said the disk degeneration is definitely progressing and that he now sees significant arthritis in the L4 and L5 joints (I'm only 39). He injected more meds directly into the joints this time (ouch!) and said if the pain is due to the arthritis I would feel almost immediate relief. No such luck which means that, in Dr. Macadaeg's opinion, I need disk replacement surgery. Bummer.

In light of this I decided my back is going to hurt whether I'm active or not so I started the program this morning. The good news is I didn't have a stroke. The bad news is I felt like I was going to! OMGosh, I haven't even done any walking since last summer and it's been um, like THIRTY YEARS since I've done any running. Wow. Fortunately, the program is an interval program where you walk then run then walk then run. Let's just say I walked then ran then walked then walked then ran... In other words I skipped every other running interval. But then again, considering I've gained 30 lbs. in the past two years, have a jacked-up back and haven't exercised in forever, I don't think I did half bad. Keith says I won't be able to walk tomorrow, but so far I don't feel any serious ill-effects from the workout.

I am using a podcast program I was turned on to by my friend, Julie (senora_x) and I really like it. The music is great, there are verbal prompts that tell you when to switch gears and the time seems to pass quickly (even if you do feel half dead) - no need to look at a watch which helps a lot. I'm hoping this program will really allow me to see my progress which will definitely keep me motivated. I want to lose the weight I've gained, but I have three other goals that are actually more important to me:

• increase my stamina and resistance
• strengthen my heart
• strengthen and tone my body
  

Now if I just happen to lose weight while I'm doing this that would be an added bonus for sure. So I'm just going to take this one day at a time and see where I go. I'm not sure I can work up to running 3 miles in 9 weeks like the program says, but if I am ever running 3 consecutive miles I will consider that a huge accomplishment. In fact, if I ever run 1 mile without stopping or passing out, I will consider myself successful. Did I mention I have always hated running?