Couch to 5K

I recently signed up for a recreation program here in my town called "Couch to 5K," which is a learn to run program for sedentary folks, like me.  I signed up for several reasons:

1. I'm a bit of a slug.  I don't leave slime trails, and I do have a sit-stand desk, but I still sit for a lot of time every day, and all my hobbies are seated, so I feel it's important for me to try to get more exercise. 
2. I turned 50 recently, which sort of makes you think about your health and your overall fitness level perhaps a bit more than you did before.
3. I could stand to lose a few pounds, like 50 or so, and sitting isn't accomplishing that.
4. I looked at the picture of a former "couch to 5K" class and there were people who were clearly even less fit than me, so I figured I would not be the worst of the bunch, and that was, admittedly, somewhat encouraging.
5. It's good for me to get out and do things, because I tend to be a hermit.

So, I was pleased this morning when I woke up to a lovely, sunny day.  "Good," I thought to myself, "this will be a good day for my running program."  As the day progressed, there was a bit of a breeze, and I lay in my new hammock for a few minutes around lunchtime and thought about how that was a good thing, because it would be nice to have a bit of a breeze when running, in case I got a bit hot.

I planned my supper early so that I wasn't too full to go to the class, which started at 6 pm.  When I was eating, I noticed it was clouding over a bit, and I thought to myself "Well, that's OK, because it won't be too hot." (not that it was particularly hot in the first place, but one tries to see the bright side). 

So  I put on a light jacket of a sort of velour type fabric and headed out. I drove into town and went to the park where we were meeting, and I noticed on my way that it was quite a bit chillier than it had been and that there was quite a wind now.  "Well, that's OK," I thought "because I'll be warm as we are running or trying to run, and the cooler air will feel nice."  (bright side...but slightly less bright than earlier)

We met the young, exuberant and bouncy instructor, who is a 3rd year kinesiology student and I would be willing to put money on the fact that she has never in her life felt overweight, arthritic, uncoordinated, or slug-like.  I look around at the other people and realize that... oh dear, maybe I actually am the worst of the bunch.  I listened to the instructor do her spiel and tell us our route today, which was going to be mostly walking, because it was the first day.  I thought to myself, I can still do this.  So we head out onto the path that goes to the Fundy trail and it was right around that point that I felt the first raindrop.

Off we go, down the trail, with Ms. Exuberance giving us helpful tips about running, which I'm sure were helpful, but the sound of about 20 people's feet on gravel is noisy, and the wind is really quite blustery by this point, which made it hard enough to hear her because we're all in a sort of jumbled pack, and then, of course, the skies opened and the rain began in earnest.  So there I was, puttering along, shivering in the cold wind, drenched to the skin because velour-type jackets are not waterproof nor warm when wet, not hearing much, and thinking about how amazingly appealing my reclining chair would be at that moment, with a nice warm blanket and a bit of knitting and a hot cocoa.  

So our half hour walk (with a tiny bit of a jog in the middle) was essentially a wind and water bath and I arrived back at my car looking like a drowned rat (drowned slug?) and feeling utterly miserable.  Don't get me wrong, I'll still go back on Thursday.  It's twice a week for eight weeks, which is supposed to be enough to form a habit out of it.  But on Thursday, I'll bring my parka, my umbrella, a box of tissues, galoshes, and a personal flotation device, just in case. 

Not an auspicious start to my exercise program, but at least I did it.