Running towards 40 ... or at least 36

I'm a few days away from turning 36, which is 90% of the way to 40, and that's been on my mind a bit of late. I'll write more about that as 36 gets closer ... for now, let's talk about running.

When I started running in 2004, I did it using the Couch-to-5K program, which at the time was just something people talked about on the Cool Running forums. Now it's got its own fancy (?) website but the program is the same. After, what, 18 months without running (more?), I figured I could do worse as a reintroduction than just restarting that program.

Today was W1D1 (Week One, Day One).

5 minute warmup
8 sets of (60 seconds running, 90 seconds walking) = 20 minutes
5 minute cooldown

This repeats twice more in Week One. The program runs for 9 weeks, and at the end your workout is:

5 minute warmpup
30 minute run
5 minute cooldown

It works, which I know because I've used it before. So has Jess (who, by the way, ran W2D2 today and has a 5K picked out to run with her mother in December).

It's a bit humbling to be starting W1D1 all over again, but it's good to have the structure. There's nothing wrong with a slow reintroduction. So today I popped my headphones in while Evelyn napped, and did my 30 minute workout on the treadmill in the basement. My legs were itching for more, but that's fine. They'll be crying for less, soon enough.

My big hairy audacious goal is to run a marathon before I'm 40. My fallback plan is to run a half.

I've got 4 years, and I'm on Week One Day One. I'm pretty sure I can get there from here ... one workout at a time.