Couch to 5K
May. 7th, 2012 08:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eternaleponineNow, I'm sure it's hard to believe considering how often I post about Tae Kwon Do, but I actually hate exercise. A lot. I hate being out of breath and sweaty and achy. In high school, gym class was torture, and especially when they decided to make us run The Mile.
Because I actually enjoy TKD, I don't really consider it exercise, even if sometimes when we lay down at the end of class I'm not entirely sure I'm going to be able to get back up, because I'm so worn out. I've been going 4-5 times a week for the past couple of months, and I don't plan to stop any time soon.
But here's the thing. In one sparring match, which is a 90 second round, 30 second rest, then another 90 second round, I was more winded than I can ever remember being in my life. My lungs were burning and I had a wheezy cough the rest of the day. If there had been more people in my division and I'd had to fight a second match, I'm pretty sure I would have done very, very badly, because I'd used up all of my reserves already.
I decided at that point that I was going to actually have to do something to start to build endurance. Like running. But I hate running.
tryslora mentioned that she was doing Couch to 5K (which I consistently typo as Cough to 5K – this is not entirely inaccurate), so I decided to look into it. I decided that it actually looked manageable, and downloaded the app.
I've made it through the first four workouts, and guess what? I still hate running. I'm pretty sure I will always hate running. But hey, in four workouts I've gone from doing 1.93 miles at 15:19 minutes per mile to 2.13 miles at 14:33 minutes per mile, so that's something. As long as I can see the progress, I'll keep going.
I don't get any pleasure out of it like I do with TKD, and the sense of accomplishment at this point is pretty small. But I'm doing it, because I never want to feel as close to dead (slight exaggeration, but only slight) as I did after that sparring match.
Because I actually enjoy TKD, I don't really consider it exercise, even if sometimes when we lay down at the end of class I'm not entirely sure I'm going to be able to get back up, because I'm so worn out. I've been going 4-5 times a week for the past couple of months, and I don't plan to stop any time soon.
But here's the thing. In one sparring match, which is a 90 second round, 30 second rest, then another 90 second round, I was more winded than I can ever remember being in my life. My lungs were burning and I had a wheezy cough the rest of the day. If there had been more people in my division and I'd had to fight a second match, I'm pretty sure I would have done very, very badly, because I'd used up all of my reserves already.
I decided at that point that I was going to actually have to do something to start to build endurance. Like running. But I hate running.
tryslora mentioned that she was doing Couch to 5K (which I consistently typo as Cough to 5K – this is not entirely inaccurate), so I decided to look into it. I decided that it actually looked manageable, and downloaded the app.I've made it through the first four workouts, and guess what? I still hate running. I'm pretty sure I will always hate running. But hey, in four workouts I've gone from doing 1.93 miles at 15:19 minutes per mile to 2.13 miles at 14:33 minutes per mile, so that's something. As long as I can see the progress, I'll keep going.
I don't get any pleasure out of it like I do with TKD, and the sense of accomplishment at this point is pretty small. But I'm doing it, because I never want to feel as close to dead (slight exaggeration, but only slight) as I did after that sparring match.