Lemondrop

After I decided to start running, I began a program that comes highly recommended: Couch to 5K. The name imbued me with optimism. After all, I already had the "couch" part down pat! And "5K" is just a fancy European way of saying "3.2 miles." Not that I have any hope of running 3.2 miles, currently, but making your accomplishment sound more impressive by converting it into metric units? I like the way they think.

The Couch to 5k program involves alternately jogging and walking. Week One calls for three 20 minute sessions made up of brief walking and jogging intervals. The problem is that it's awfully annoying to keep looking at your watch or iPod to track when to jog and when to walk. I would jog along for a few steps, then begin glancing back and forth from the road to my watch and come perilously close to veering into a tree.

Eventually, I abandoned the 60- and 90-second intervals altogether, instead running for an easier-to-measure "little while" and then walking for a "slightly longer while." There are several Couch to 5K podcasts that will keep track of the times for you; they're available for downloading, but my more approximate method also worked just fine.

Click here to find out how the rest of Alexa's run went.

The problem, though, is that -- at least at the beginning -- running felt unnatural and filled me with questions. What do I do with my arms? Should my hands be open or curled into fists? Is my sports bra going to hold up, or will my breasts tear themselves clean off my body from all the bouncing? When will my "runner's high" kick in? Why are there so many hills in my neighborhood?

Also, it was more difficult to motivate myself for running than for other activities. Inertia is a powerful thing when it comes to exercise, and this one requires me not only to change clothes, but also to leave my apartment. In the early evening? Too hot. Later on? Too dark/rapist-y. Before my husband leaves for work at 5:30 a.m.? HA.

But after I had finished running, I felt like a rock star. A sweaty, wobbly-legged rock star, possibly moments from respiratory arrest, but a rock star all the same. Running made me feel strong and powerful. There were even moments during my runs when I felt strangely peaceful, which was certainly a welcome side effect. There is no equipment or class full of unnaturally lithe gym-goers; it's just you and your feet, thumping along.

In the end, though, it is simply not the exercise for me. This is not to say I won't do it from time to time, but as a primary base of my fitness routine, I need something with less potential for excuses. My resolve is very susceptible to excuses, and I can see running turning me into Goldilocks: It's too hot/too cold/too icy/too wet/too Friday to exercise today! Better to stay inside and make fondue!

So, brief moments of exhilaration aside, running gets a C. Luckily, the shoes (insanely comfortable Sauconys, for the commenter who asked) are not activity specific, so they're staying.

Alexa Stevenson will be trying out various exercise techniques and documenting them every other week on Lemondrop.