These shoes were made for runnin'

Let the madness begin.

It's official. Yesterday marked the start of our Couch to 5K program. We are fully committed to this project now. Especially since we spent $200 on running shoes for the both of us alone.


But seriously, how could I say no to shoes that were both super comfy AND super cute?

In an effort to keep myself motivated, I'm also publicly sharing my weight because this is going to keep me motivated. So, starting out, I weigh 188.4 lbs. I'm only 5"2" and my BMI is 34. A little public self-shaming will go a long way. In fact, we even posted our weights on Facebook and Twitter. Dear readers, keep us in check!

Week 1, Day 1 of C25K is complete. Our 30-minute session last night consisted of a 5 minute warmup, and then alternating 60-second bursts of jogging and 90 second walkings for 20 minutes, followed by a 5 minute cooldown. (For a complete overview of the how C25K works, check out the full running program here.)

I laced up my new shoes, changed into my $35 sports bra (I am willing to pay extra to keep my gals from hitting me in the face while I run) and we headed off to the indoor track where I work since Mother Nature pretty much conspired against us from running outdoors yesterday.

I will not lie: I was huffing and puffing, but the alternating pace kept me from keeling over. The C25K iPhone app we downloaded worked great! I managed to jog for a total of about 8-10 minutes over the course of the training session. And by switching from jogging to walking, it really helped to give me a sense of focus as I anticipated the jogging sections and looked forward to the relief of walking again. Note to self: use my inhaler before we start running. That $35 sports bra? It keeps my gals in check but I can hardly breathe! Afterward, some nice deep stretching to (hopefully) keep me from hurting too bad tomorrow. I don't know how much distance we covered; I'll probably start keeping track of that next week.

No matter how tough this is going to get, and it will get tougher - I've got a reason to stay motivated and focused. Forget getting healthy. Forget losing weight. I can do this because this is a piece of cake compared to what Edison Peña underwent just to achieve at the New York Marathon on Sunday.

You see, Edison was one of the fine gentlemen trapped underground for two months in the Chilean mine accident. And yet, he still managed to train for the New York City Marathon despite being hundreds of miles underground, because he had been marathon training for years, and he wasn't about to let a bajillion pounds of earth ready to collapse on him at any moment stop him from training. He sawed off the ankles of his steel-toed workboots and ran laps of up to six miles in their confined space underground - every day.

And this past Sunday, Edison Peña finished the New York City Marathon in just 5 hours, 40 minutes.

I have NO reason to even think about giving up on this. And every time I start to get discouraged about this, I just have to keep picturing Edison running toward the finish line. In fact, when I felt myself starting to hurt in my arches, my breaths coming shorter, feeling my face flush and the sweat start to drip down my brow, I just kept repeating to myself, to the pat pat pat pat rhythm of my feet:

"Edison Peña. Edison Peña. Edison Peña."


It's all about the finish line. (Image via Getty Images.)