Well, today was day 1 of our new enterprize. For those interested, here is the link to the program we are following (with some early modifications that I will list shortly):
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/Pr...ve_program.htm
Our supplies: Running shoes (mine the asics listed above, her's are by saucony), heart rate monitor watch with an interval timer (my early birthday present), sports bras (mine is being asked to do just a little bit more than it was designed to, but it's hanging in there like a real champ), and our regular walking clothes.
Now, we are doing a "couch to 5k program", but we aren't really starting from the couch, so we've decided to modify the first part of the program. Our first day looked like this:
5 min, warm up walk
(7 min normal walk, 30 sec walk at full throttle) (4 times)
2 min cool down walk
We decided to go down to our usual walking place along the ocean rather than the track. I was planning to do the full stretch routine after the warm up, but quickly allowed myself to be talked out of it because the wind was up and it was COLD. I'll be more strict next time. I took a peak at google earth when we got home, and our walk ended up being 1.7 miles, for an average rate of 2.8 mph (did I mention it was cold?) and at my weight a calculated burn of 256 cals (243 at SO's).
We plan to follow this basic outlay for the rest of the week (Wed and Fri), then evaluate for the next week, either starting with week 1 of second month, or (more likely) continuing all walk with a longer full throttle interval.
Physically/psychologically everything is fine so far. Shoes get A+'s all around (mine are actually more comfortable than bare feat), no body parts went flinging in dangerous directions, and no one grumped or groaned too much. Like I mentioned, we are physically perhaps just a bit beyond this part of the program, but I realize that it's very important to not get ahead of ourselves, and I'm just glad to be on my way.
What we saw today: A 5 pound dog valiantly trying to pull a 170 pound man down the street. A beautiful ocean sunset that started all rose and periwinkle, and ended blood-orange red.