Me 1, Couch 0

I'm signing up for a 5K peoples! I'm doing the Jingle Bell Run on December 5 with Simon, John, Michael and Tara. Yep, we're going to be a tiny mob running down the streets of Columbus. I had fun the last time I did it (if running three miles can be considered fun). I'm a little nervous though - I'm hearing rumors of elf costumes. Yowza!

Last night, I strapped on my tennis shoes and did Day 1 of the 'Couch to 5K' nine-week program (I don't know why I call them tennis shoes - I've never played tennis a day in my life. It must be the raised-in-Maine part of me coming out or it means I was born before fancy shoes were invented)

Day 1 involved alternating running for 60 seconds with walking for 90 seconds for a total 20 minutes. I'm using an iphone app, so not actually timing myself but I'm a little bummed because I actually thought I was running 90 seconds, not 60 seconds. Yikes! It's going to be a long nine weeks!

It was a tad scary - I ran/walked around my apartment complex. The posse of too-cool-for-school teenagers was hanging out in the parking lot smoking. I felt like I was back in 7th grade when Sarah Gillette told me that all the boys in study hall had held up cards rating her a 10 when she walked by. (What was more annoying was that she tossed her long glossy curly locks, giggled and said "What do you think they meant?") I didn't walk by that study hall for a month.

I looked like a beet when I was done and was sweating (um...glowing) like a wildebeest. (Do wildebeests sweat?) I'm glad I did it though - when I ran a couple years ago, I was in the best shape of my life. And more importantly, I could eat cheeseburgers knowing that they would be quickly burned off.