Sisterhood Virtual 5K and C25K (Couch to 5K)

I like to run.  Well, it’s more like wogging (walk+jogging) but whatevs.  I get the job (ie mileage) done.

Prior to October 2009, I was vehemently OPPOSED to running.  I mean, it hurt, I sweated a lot, my breathing sucked, and did I mention that it hurt?  Why would I want to willingly and knowingly put my body through that?

Now I know that the reason it hurt is because I was pushing my body too hard, too fast and oh yeah, it wasn’t used to moving that way.  DOH!

Enter the Sisterhood Virtual 5K of 2009.  A group of my wonderful, brilliant, awesome sisters had this wonderful idea of training and running a 5K, virtually.  That meant we chose a training plan and committed to doing the plan on our own.  We chose a weekend (Nov 7, 2009) for everyone to run their individual 5K’s at home, asked everyone to take pictures and then we shared the experiences.

Although at that time running was NOT my choice of exercise, I joined the 5K Virtual movement I was forced to do it because everyone else was doing it.  Isn’t peer pressure the BEST?!

Little did I know that participating in that Virtual 5K challenge would lead me to where I am today- willingly and knowingly choosing running as a form of exercise, I’m about to run my SECOND half marathon in 2.5 weeks, and unbeknownst to us here at Shrinking Jeans, we’ve inspired a whole new group of newbies to embrace running.  That little-bitty 5K that a bunch of us committed to in 2009 yielded spectacular results.

How awesome is that?!  So guess what?

It’s time to do it again- woot woot!

The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans is hosting our 2nd Annual Sisterhood Virtual 5K.

Here are the pertinent details:

• Training will begin on Monday, November 1st. Yeah that’s in just a few days- wheee!!!!  There’s no better time to start a training program than right now, right?  Don’t worry though, if you are reading this AFTER November 1st- you can STILL join us.
• We will be following the Couch to 5K training plan (C25K).  It is a 9 week training plan that has been embraced by hundreds/thousands/millions of folks around the world.  It is wonderful for the beginner runner/walker.  Although I have been running for a year, I will be using this program to increase/better my pace : ).
• You do not have to already be a runner to do the training program.  In fact, C25K was developed for new runners, as in folks that have never run before.  Your “runs” are broken down in minutes- as in, jog for 1 minute, walk for 90 seconds.  Lather, rinse, and repeat.  Eventually, over 9 weeks, you will build up to jogging 3 miles (or wogging for me, ha ha).  Really, YOU can do this.
• We here at the Sisterhood will be there to support you along the way.  Pinky promise.
• All of us participating will run a 5K VIRTUALLY on January 8th, 2010.  Why January 8th, you ask?  First off, because it’s 9 weeks after November 1st!  Secondly, because we want to support some of our other running sisters who will be taking on the big kahuna of races (some are doing a half marathon- 13.1 miles, others are doing a FULL marathon- 26.2 miles) at Walt Disneyworld on January 8th.  As in all that we do, we want to encourage and support you guys (our new runners) and we want to encourage and support our “old” runners.
• Grab the “I run with the Sisterhood” button, copy and paste to your blog and BLOG about your training!
• In the very near future, we will be offering NEW Sisterhood shirts through Cafe Press.  Once those are finalized, we will announce it and then you can buy one : ).
• One more thing, I can already hear a few of you saying to yourself- I’m NOT a runner, I’m too big to run, my knees hurt, I don’t exercise yada yada yada.  There are so many excuses to give yourself- heck, I had a MILLION reasons why I couldn’t run.  Finally, I shut off the voices in my head and just did it.  I am by no means a fast runner, and it’s taken me a while to get where I am and truthfully, if I had not had the support of the Sisterhood back in the hard months, I might not be a runner now.  If you start off walking and end up walking the entire 5K, then that’s fine- at least you are moving and exercising.  We are PROUD of all of you, regardless of your level of running/wogging/walking.
• Because we love you so much, we have collected a Round-up of Running posts which includes links to Couch 2 5 K, where to get started with running, finding the right pair of running shoes, and MORE!

So tell me, will you be joining us for the Sisterhood Virtual 5K on January 8th, 2011?! Come join our discussion on the ‘hood!

Tags: C25K, couch to 5 k, couch to 5k, Couch-2-5K program, featured, january 8th 2011, Lisa, running, training plan, Virtual 5K

Category: Fitness, Fitness Friday, Lisa, Running, The Sisterhood, Uncategorized