When I was in grade school I was very active; I played multiple sports, was in the marching band, and did a variety of other activities. And my metabolism was through the roof. And my mother always told me (as I was scarfing food down) that when I turned 25 I wouldn't be able to eat whatever I wanted and not worry about my weight anymore. And I would just shrug it off and jokingly say something like, "well I guess I better eat as much as I can now before that happens".
And she was right. I'm 26 years old and over the last year I have started to notice that it's not as easy as it used to be to stay in shape. The combination of a slowing metabolism and a less active lifestyle has brought me to a point of being careful of what I eat (no more eating half a carton of Dryer's Loaded Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup ice cream without consequences). Which is not entirely a bad thing, but I would like a little more freedom in that area.
So I have decided to start running on a regular basis. But long distance running has always been difficult for me. Even in high school I was a sprinter not an endurance runner. So if I found it difficult in high school, it's been a huge struggle now. But I have been using a running plan to help build my cardio endurance level and I have really enjoyed it.It's basically an 8 week plan to get you up to running 30 minutes without stopping. Here is the gist of it.
Week 1: Walk 6 minutes, Jog 1 minute. Repeat 3 times. Aim for 3 sessions during the week.
Week 1: Walk 6 minutes, Jog 1 minute. Repeat 3 times. Aim for 3 sessions during the week.
Week 2: Walk 5 minutes, Jog 2 minutes. Repeat 3 times. Aim for 3 sessions during the week.
Week 3: Walk 3 minutes, Jog 4 minutes. Repeat 4 times. Aim for 4 sessions during the week.
Week 4: Walk 2 minutes, Jog 5 minutes. Repeat 4 times. Aim for 4 sessions during the week.
Week 5: Walk 2 minutes, Jog 8 minutes. Repeat 3 times. Aim for 4 sessions during the week.
Week 6: Walk 2 minutes, Jog 9 minutes. Repeat 3 times. Aim for 4 sessions during the week.
Week 7: Walk 1 minutes, Jog 11 minutes. Repeat 3 times. Aim for 4 sessions during the week.
Week 8: Jog 30 minutes
I am happy to say that I can now successfully jog 30 minutes without stopping and I am look forward to building more endurance as I continue on from here. So if you are wanting to take better care of your body and you want to get into running, I highly recommend this plan. You should click the link above and read through more information on helpful running tips before you get started.
