I'm going to try this running thing.

I've decided to start running for a few reasons. One, my 10 year high school reunion is coming up in May, and since I'm likely to revert to the loser I was in HS as soon as I see my classmates, I might as well have an awesome body to help lessen the humiliation. Two, I want to firm up. I want to look at my body and not think I'm flabby. I'm only 4'11", so every pound shows on me. Three, DH needs to lose weight, and I hope that if I start running, he'll start to like it as well and join me. Four, I want to be proud of myself for something. I doubt I'll ever win a race, but maybe I could place in the top 10 of my age group or something.

I actually ran quite a bit in September of last year. I started walking with some friends, and we did 4 miles 2-3 times per week. Unfortunately, things changed and I stopped walking with them. I just started walking/running again almost 2 weeks ago, and this time I'm by myself. I don't live in a very safe neighborhood and I don't have a gym membership, so I've mostly been running on the treadmills at my apt complex's little gym. Apparently a lot of people find treadmills boring, but I just use my hulu plus app on my phone to watch tv while I exercise. I walk during the show and run during the commercials. I call it the hulu exercise plan lol. It works fairly well for me.

Here is a summary of my runs to date:

1.20.12 (Friday):
Distance: 3 miles (Treadmill)
Ran 4x for 30 seconds each at 6.1, walked at 3.5 for the rest
Time: I didn't write down the time for this one, but I remember having to go longer than the 45 minute Once Upon A Time episode. We'll just say it was 55 minutes.

1.22.12 (Sunday):
Distance: probably 1 mile (Lake Hefner)
HOLY WIND BATMAN. Mike and I decided to walk at Lake Hefner on the lake side in 30mph sustained winds with stronger gusts. There were a few times the wind actually pushed me. We mostly walked, but I ran 1x for about 50yds. Hello, resistance.
Time: Less than an hour.

1.23.12 (Monday):
Distance: 3 miles (Treadmill)
Walked at 3.7, ran 6x at 6.2 for 30 secs-1 min (walked during the show, ran during the commercials). This is the day I hurt my hip. Stupid me decided that I would challenge myself to finish the 3 miles before the end of the tv show on hulu. My hip started hurting and I decided to run through it. It still hurts when I run a week later. Note to self: IF IT HURTS, STOP RUNNING IDIOT.
Time: Well, I did finish before the end of the TV show, so we'll say it was 43 minutes.

1.25.12 (Wednesday):
Distance: 3.17 miles (Treadmill)
Walked at 3.5, ran 2x at 6.0 for 30 seconds. Left thigh/hip sore. Did a longer warm up & cool down (3.17 total; 295 calories; ave mph 3.4 including cool down)
Time: 50:45

1.27.12 (Friday):
Distance: 3.21 miles (Treadmill)
Distance includes 6 minute cool down. Burned 304.5 calories. Walked at 3.7, ran 3x at 6.0 for 30-45 seconds.
Time: 53:20

1.29.12 (Sunday):
Distance: 2.04 miles (Treadmill)
Distance includes warm up and cool down. Mix of walking at 3.5 with (4) 1 minute runs at 5.5. Concentrated on having a short stride. Stopped at 2 miles because of hip pain (hey, I'm getting smarter).
Time: 34:44

1.31.12 (Tuesday):
Distance: 3.06 miles (Lake Hefner)
Mike and I walked at Lake Hefner. He actually seemed to enjoy it! I'm so glad. We walked slower for 5 mins for our warm up and cool down. We jogged several times for 30 secs-1min. I think the pace for the jogs was around 5.5-it was hard to tell. I used the MapMyRun app. Apparently I shouldn't hold it in my hand when swinging my arms, since it told me that my top speed was 9.4mph (unless that was when DH and I raced? We didn't go far or very fast lol). I thoroughly enjoyed this run.
Time: 54:23 (not too bad, esp since DH isn't used to running more than 30 secs and I doubt he ever goes above 3)

And now for the before pics. I debated about whether or not to put the sports bra ones on here or not. I'm naturally thin, so I think that if I only use the shirt ones, I won't see the difference in my abs. Also, it is unbelievably hard to get a clear iphone pic.
Before, with shirt:

Before, without a shirt:

I need goals if I'm going to stay motivated. Therefore, I want to run at least the half marathon at the Dallas White Rock Marathon on December 2, 2012. I also want to run (not walk, run) the Warrior Dash on June 2. I'm scared of fire and I think DH will have to help me over the flaming hay bales, but I'm going to finish it. I also want to walk/run the 10K at the Redbud Classic on April 15. I'm not sure if that is pushing myself too quickly though, so I may end up doing the 5K instead. I can be incredibly competitive, and I don't want to hurt myself again. Also, I'm going to look into trail running, since that seems interesting. I'm going to the running store this weekend to get fitted for proper shoes.