This is me last night, after my fourth session on the 5K Walking & Jogging Program. That’s after my cooldown, even, and my face is still that red. I can’t even imagine what I’ll look like should I ever manage to do any real running. I still remember the instructor of the kayak class I took with Mr. Karen at the community college way back when being very concerned about me during roll practice; he asked if I was okay and if I was sure I didn’t want to take a break, so flushed and on the verge of stroke did I look.

So yeah, last night was session four, and for the first time I failed to meet the plan as laid out. I did manage to do the first jogging stint of two minutes, but by the end I was testing the limits of how slow one can go and still be jogging. That didn’t surprise me, since I’d tried a couple of 1:15 jog intervals on Sunday in session three and sure noticed those extra seconds. I might have been able to do the second two minutes if my life depended on it, but since it didn’t, I stopped at 1:15 and walked the rest. It was the same with the third interval. The fourth I managed 1:30, thanks to a gentle downhill slope that came right at the end. The fifth I did only 1:00, but since the whole fifth repeat was new this week even doing that little was an improvement over the last session. I felt disappointed that I couldn’t do the program as designed, yet also wondered who thought it was reasonable to increase the total time by 25% and double the time for each running interval from one session to the next. I’ll just have to keep trying to get there and eventually I will. I hope.

One thing that’s becoming clear to me even at this very early stage is that I need more running stuff. Specifically, I need at least a couple more pairs of shorts, since right now I only have one pair that’s what I consider ideal for running–lightweight, with long enough legs that I don’t have to worry about flashing anyone (okay, so I’m not exactly going fast enough to make this a big problem, but sometimes a breeze comes up) and made of slippery enough fabric to minimize unsightly bunching. I looked for some at Kohl’s and in the Title 9 catalog but both of those places appear to believe that women with hips as wide as mine don’t need athletic shorts. For now I’m making do with the less flashy colors in my collection of Multiples shorts, but all the tugging the legs back down gets annoying. Also on my list is watch with an easy to set countdown timer. I’ve only done a tiny bit of research on those, since clutching my little kitchen timer in my right hand is working okay; it just looks kinda silly and is a bit loud (since it’s designed to be heard from another room of the house). Eventually I think I’ll want an iPod or similar device, but not until I’m at a stage where I’m able to run at least as long as a song lasts.