The journey from fat to fit. Road trip, woo hoo!

There is a questionnaire for those of us participating in the Wee Little Virtual 5k.  Copy it and post your answers on your blog so all of the runners can get to know each other!  Leave a comment on Wee Little’s questionnaire page letting people know how to find your responses.  Here are my responses:

1. When did you start running?

March 9, 2008, a day that shall live in infamy.

2. Did you follow a plan (C25K etc.) to get you started running? If so, what plan did you use? If not, how did you go about getting started?

I did use the C25k at Cool Runnings, along with the Robert U. podcasts, and with the support of my virtual running group on Yahoo.

3. Why did you start running?

I looked to running as part of my “journey” to a healthy lifestyle and weight loss.  It’s cheap and you don’t need to buy a home gym to do it.  Plus I have always had severe runner’s envy, especially of girls with swishy ponytails who jog without sweating.

4. Now that you are running regularly, what do you find to be the biggest benefits?

I feel great, I look good, my weight loss is enhanced by the extra exercise.  I’m a runner, damnit!

5. What are your future plans for running? Short-term and Long-range.

I finished the C25k program and ran in a real live 5k race with other people on 5/31.  I finished in 40 minutes 23 seconds and am still beyond proud of my accomplishment, because I did literally go from the couch to a 5k.  Since then I’ve improved my time, coming in consistently under 40 minutes.   I have also started training in what I am calling “5k to 5 miles.”  But now it looks like I may be doing a relay in August which will require me to do six miles in my leg, so my 5k to 5 miles may be revised to “5k to 10k.”  We’ll see.  10k still sounds a little too intimidating to me.

6. What are your personal goals for the Virtual 5K?

My goal is to come in under 38 minutes.  I would like to run it outside, but if weather forces me to do it on the TM, a secondary goal would be to do the first two minutes in 24 minutes and only slow down for the remaining 1.3 miles as much as I physically have to.

7. Do you have a music “theme song” that you will use for this race?

I’ve been doing all of my post-podcast running to U2’s “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” album.  It is inspirational.  I’m recently thrown in Justin Timberlake’s “Sexy Back” as my finishing victory song : )