C25K - And so it begins... Outside!

I hate going to the gym. Seeing girls there who are wearing too much make-up (and not enough clothes) irks me. It's a gym, not a night club. Seriously. Plus feeling like people are watching me makes me self-conscious. And I know (I know) that I should just ignore that, and that I'm really not that interesting, and there is probably no one watching me at all. But it still just puts me off. And then there's that whole sanitiation via mystery spritz bottle + creepy wet towel thing. I want to believe that everyone sprays down the equipment. I want to believe the towels are clean. I want to believe that spraying down the equipment and wiping it with said towel means that it is clean. But I just don't.

Maybe someday I will be less.. shallow... self-interested... neurotic... and I will love the gym. Probably not though.

So, when I decided to try the Couch to 5k (C25K) program, using a treadmill at a gym wasn't even a consideration. But whether I would do it indoors or outdoors was debatable. I'm ridiculous, so I didn't want people to see me running before I could run well. I really don't know where I get the idea that people are so interested in watching me... I have these visions of people peering out their kitchen curtains and snickering.... and some passer by in a car screaming "Run Forest! Run!" And I realize that even if people were snickering and shouting, it shouldn't matter. But I'm pathetic.

I spent the first week of C25K trying to convince myself that walking and jogging on the spot (in my living room... while watching Borgia...) was exactly the same thing as doing it outdoors, just with a psychological drama instead of psychological trauma. But some tiny little part of me was pretty sure certain that I was lying to myself.

Yesterday morning was Week 2, Day 1. I woke up early in the morning and saw that it looked rather nice out. And for some reason, for the first time ever, I began to think maybe I did want to try the whole exercising outside thing - which so many people seem to enjoy. I literally stepped outside, then chickened out and went back inside, then stepped back outside so many times, I looked like a clown fish. My cats both sat by the door staring at me like I was seriously disturbed. Finally I committed to running outside.

It's not the same.
It is not the same.

I knew that Week 2 would be harder, but still, it is so much more of a workout outside. It was much harder. As I worked my way around the block, I began to consider that I have seen lots of people running outside, and have never once snickered at them. If anything, seeing people running has made me think "I should be doing that..." And no one hollered anything out of their vehicles as they drove past.

Feeling the wind on my face, watching the sun rise, hearing the birds chirping - it all sounds so cliche, but it really did feel great. I felt alive. And I found myself able to use the surroundings as motivation "do not stop running until after that car down there has passed you" or "just make it to that tree up there" and so on. It really did work.

Near the end of the run, I actually encountered another person on the sidewalk. I was running proud and strong. I was thinking "I probably look like a totally legit runner right now!" As I jogged past her, the electronic voice on the app I downloaded to my phone announced "SWITCH TO A BRISK WALK." I definitely got a look for that. And my ego put its feet back on the ground. But once I rounded the corner, I burst out laughing about the whole thing. I made it back home still laughing about my pocket selling me out as a novice. 

As long as it stops raining, I am confident I'll be outside for Week 2 Day 2 tomorrow.