Checking In.

My running program has proved elusive so far but I planned to start it tomorrow and finally get my butt on the road. At least I haven’t been sitting around resembling a couch potato... for the past week I have been working on my best friend’s farm, breaking in ponies. I was riding all day and trudging up and down massive hills often so it was a good pre-program jaunt. Some of the ponies were pretty feisty but thankfully I was only bucked off once and didn’t get hurt which would have been a bit of a downer. It was FREEZING down there. I was honestly scared of my toes and fingers getting frost bite (even with thick gloves and two pairs of socks). But thankfully it’s much warmer up here so I should be ok for my run. I also got dozens of flea bites while I was there. I have 30 on one leg alone and the itching kept me awake for ages last night, it drove me crazy.

I’ve yet to give up V but I plan to do that tomorrow as well. I really am going to miss that drink but sometimes you just can’t have what you want and I know I’ll be better off without it.

I’ve yet to post my proposed training plan so here it is. I got it from Complete Running.

My Health and Fitness Goals

(This isn't me... but I wish it was)

I believe that having specific goals is important when wanting to achieve something. So here are my health and fitness goals that I want to make happen.

Fitness Goals

Long Term

Compete in a 10k race – I want to compete in a Marathon one day but that is a long time away. I know once I finish my first 10km race it will be the glorious end of the un-fit, un-healthy Katie.

Mid Term

Be able to run 5km without stopping – This has long been a dream of mine. It seems like a big mile-stone that will finally let me feel like a real runner.

Short Term

Be able to run for 10 minutes without stopping – I’m going to get that amazing feeling back!

Health Goals

I don’t have long term, mid term and short term goals for my health but here are a couple of goals that I want to achieve.

Quit drinking V - V is an energy drink that tastes amazing and I am totally addicted to it. I have 1 a day and sometimes 2 if my craving calls. I know it’s pickling my insides and is really not good for me what with all the caffeine and sugar. The healthy part of me wants to quit but the un-healthy of me really doesn’t. And so, starting tomorrow I am going to stop drinking V (that un-healthy part of myself is screaming in frustration).

Swap unhealthy snacks for healthier snacks - I love biscuits and chocolate... and anything else that has no preparation and tastes good. I want more vitamins and less sugar so I’m going to make an effort to eat healthier snacks.

So this is it, I am going to do the best I can to achieve these goals. I REALLY want to compete in that 10k race, I really want to become a runner.

I need a change. A BIG one!

I have tried to become a runner dozen of times. I’ve started numerous blogs to document my journey and managed to keep a couple of them going for a few weeks. But then something always seems to interrupt my running aspirations and it’s always hard to get back on the wagon, and then my poor blog dies a slow, lonely death before I shame-facedly decided to kill it off permanently. Failure, once again.

I am hoping beyond all hopes that this blog doesn’t end up like those previous blogs... in the mysterious blog grave yard where all the forgotten and discarded blogs lay their heads. I hope that I don’t give up and that I do achieve my running and fitness goals.

Who am I? My name is Katie. I am 19 years old and live in Palmerston North in my beautiful country of New Zealand. I am studying at Massey University, completing a foundations course before I study Vet Nursing.

At school, I was never one of the really sporty ones but I wasn’t a completely sportless (I think I just invented a new word) person. I played Netball for years and dabbled in Soccer and Tennis. When I was 14, I saved up and bought a horse and started competing him in Eventing, Show Jumping and Dressage. My body lost its baby fat and my muscles toned up but my cardio fitness was always below par. I would huff and puff my way through netball games and struggled to keep up on team runs. I hated it.

When I realised my lack of cardio fitness was having a negative impact on the Cross Country phase of my Eventing, I decided to start running. I started the couch to 5k running program and managed to get about 3 ½ weeks into it before I stopped (I can’t remember why I did). That was the longest I lasted and the fittest I have ever been. I remember the day I ran 10 minutes straight for the first time. I was so proud. Now, I wonder how I will ever get that far again.

I’m starting this new blog because I need a change. Since deciding to sell my horse, I have become lazy and since starting University, I have been eating truck loads of crap. So I want to throw myself back into life and start turning my life around. I want to finally become a runner.