I hate you, Chubby Jones, but I love you for it.
Posted by beth on September 6, 2010
This morning, I went on my first solo run. Up til now, I’ve always gone jogging with at least one Josh, but Whitney’s out of town, and Lauren was hanging with her family, so today I went by myself. To keep myself on track with the timing, I downloaded a podcast designed specifically to help people with Couch to 5k programs. Each week, you listen to a different episode, and the lady on the recording tells you when to run and when to walk. She also plays upbeat music for you and tells you you’re doing a great job.
My lady is called Chubby Jones. I think her real name is Mia, but she tells you she’s chubby to make you feel better about being chubby. She also is kind of chubby, probably due to the fact that she’s just a normal gal who likes to jog. She’s not a health nut who talks to you the whole time about eating fruit and counting calories. She talks to you about how she’d rather dance than walk and how she likes to drink. A lot. I like her for that – not that she likes to drink, but that she’s not one of those women who’s naturally a size 4 and thinks everyone can be a size 4 if they work hard enough at it. Chubby and I are never going to be a size 4. I would be over-the-moon ecstatic with a size 8 and super-duper proud of a 10. I think Chubby would be proud of me for that too.
Anyhoe, today’s run was definitely harder than usual, but that could be due to one or more of the following factors:
- It’s more humid today than it was on Saturday when I did week 3 for the first time.
- I ate breakfast before I ran. I haven’t done that in the past.
- Chubby Jones didn’t give me any 3-minute walks. I alternated 90-second runs and 3-minute runs with only 90-second walks between each.
- I didn’t have anyone to talk to.
- I only had one day of rest between runs.
- I have a bit of chest congestion.
However, I am very proud to report that I finished it, which means that (not counting the warm-up and cool-down) I walked for 6 minutes and ran for 9. Yep, yep! I’m now running more than I’m walking (not counting the warm-up and cool-down)!! Apparently, the next step includes running for 16 minutes and only walking for like 5, but my body cannot even comprehend that right now, so I’m not going to think about it any more.
One step at a time, friends. One step at a time.
DLF said,
I got up to the 20 (or so- can’t remember exactly what) minutes of running on that program. then I went away for the summer and quit. And now I’m back at the 90s/90s, 3min/3min one. AUUUGGGHHHH. hopefully I can find a good place in Belgium to keep doing it!
Merse said,
I’m proud of you!
You’ve inspired me. I’m goin’ runnin’ TODAY. Wish me luck.
Emily said,
YAY!! You can do it!! You can do it!!!
Whitney said,
I thought she messed up the times on that week!! The podcast is wrong, isn’t it. Good job with runnin’, buddy! I’ll be going later today.
Mia said,
You are correct, I do like you for who you are. Whitney, I don’t think I screwed up a week but if I did, I’ll be making new ones again this winter most likely.
Beth, just wait until you’re done with the program and look at how far you’ve come. You’ll be amazed at how easy those 16 minutes will end up being (of course, compared to say, 30 minutes of running).
xo,
Chubby Jones
beth said,
Mia, I hate to tell you, but Whitney’s right. I did that one again today, and you say at the beginning that we’ll have a 3-minute walk, and then when it’s time for it, you say it’ll be a 3-minute walk, but 30 seconds into it, you tell us we’ve only got a minute left before the 2nd 90-second run. It’s ok, though. I think it’s good preparation for the next week where you only get 90 seconds between 5-minute and 3-minute runs. I’ma do it one more time before bumping up to the next one. Thanks! And thanks for stopping by! You are welcome to encourage me any time!
Mia said,
Oopsie! I must’ve been hungover that day. Hope the training is continuing to go well!
CJ
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