Adventures in Walking From the Couch to 5K Chapter 2

Two weeks later AJ is sitting on her couch in her stretchy blue jeans and purple pullover hoodie with her laptop. She receives an email from the training program that tells her how to get ready for the training. This includes where the best places are to get what she needs and what discounts she’ll get at the various stores for being in the training program. AJ prints out the email so that she can check off everything as she gets it all done.

She hollers upstairs to the boys, “Let’s go shopping!”

Cooper and Carson come bounding down the stairs with their matching blue jackets on and run over to get their shoes on. Cooper with his black Vans and Carson in his multi-color Nike high tops. They all get into AJ’s red F-350 crew cab truck and head into town.

They go to Mark’s Running and Walking Shop, where Adam greets them at the door. The boys go and sit with their tablets on the big red comfy couches.

“What are you looking for?”

AJ replies, “I am starting the 5K walking training program.”

“Congratulations on starting a great program,” he replies.

Adam explains, “We have a variety of shoes and I will need to see how you walk to determine which style will help you the best.”

She then proceeds to take her shoes off so that Adam can see how her foot hits the ground when she walks away from him and towards him.

“Your foot overpronates. So, what that means is that your foot rolls inward too far when you walk. We have shoes that will help you with that. They are the stability shoes. Let’s get your shoe size and then I’ll grab a bunch of shoes from the back for you to try on,” he says. Next Adam has her stand in the shoe sizer to make sure that he gets the right size.

He explains, “Now your feet will swell when you walk, so you are going to want to go up a half size from what it says right now because you haven’t been out walking.”

Adam then goes into the back room as AJ takes a seat on the bench next to the boys. She leans over to see what the boys are watching on the tablets. Of course, they are watching Scooby Doo and have headphones on so they don’t disturb anyone with the sound. Sitting back up, she looks around the store at all the shoes on two of the walls and the large assortment of clothing on the racks.

Appearing from the back room a short time later, Adam carries in six boxes of shoes stacked on top of each other. They are all different brands and in her size to see how each one fits her foot. AJ will try on each pair, testing for comfort and stability. He sets them down on the floor and opens the first box explaining to her what that particular shoe is good for and how it will help her. Adam does this for all six pairs of shoes, taking note of what she likes and dislikes about each shoe. After going through the six pairs of shoes and seeing how they all fit she finally decides on one pair of shoes.

Next up is getting socks that will work with the shoes and not against them. There are a few different brands on the market. Adam goes through the brands and what his recommendation is for a beginning walker. AJ decides to get a few pairs.

Her next question to Adam is “What do I do about clothing? How do I know what to wear and when?”

He explains to her, “You should dress for 20 degrees warmer than what the thermometer says it is. If it says 50, dress for 70. You may be cold to start, but you will quickly warm up and be glad you dressed appropriately.”

They have quite a few outfits for AJ to mix and match. She has fun trying on various outfits to see how they actually feel. Some looked better on the hanger, and she figures they may look better after she loses a few pounds or at least tones up. She decides on a couple outfits, all of them in purple.

Adam shows her the section where all the area races have their fliers posted. He says, “these are free for the taking and with this training program the entry is included for the race. I am sure that once you are done with this one you will want to do more races and keep up the exercise regimen. Plus, the running & walking community is a great one and you will make lots of friends.”

He also shows her the area where she can get all kinds of other gear for walking. This area has a variety of water bottles, energy gels, stickers, magnets, fitness watches and sunglasses. Adam says, “You won’t need to worry about these with just starting out, but they will come in handy as you progress after the 5K.”

While checking out with her new walking gear a couple ladies enter the store. Adam says to AJ, “These ladies are Vicki and Angela. Angela is one of the walking group trainers for your training program.” He introduces Angela and Vicki, “This is AJ and she has signed up for the 5K walking program.”

AJ smiles and shakes the ladies hands that are in the walking program. Angela explains, “The training program will help you successfully finish the race. You will be in a group of about eight participants. The groups vary in size according to ability. Included in your registration are weekly walks with the group, a training program t-shirt and cinch sack, discounts at various places including here, vouchers for two races in addition to the Oakland 5K, and 5 free visits to Fitness For Life gym. You are going to have a lot of fun, meet some great people and accomplish a 5K. We look forward to seeing you there.”

Then the boys get up from the couch and walk over to their mom. AJ says to Angela and Vicki, “these are my boys, Carson and Cooper. Say hi boys.” “Hi,” they both reply with a smile.

AJ and the boys leave the store and head for home. When they get home she parks in the garage and the boys grab her bags and head into townhouse. Upon entering they kick off their shoes by the door. Then they take the bags into her room and lay them on her bed for her.

Following behind them, she gets to her room says, “You can stay if you want.”

“No thanks,” they both say and head downstairs to watch some more Scooby Doo instead. AJ then dumps out the bags on her bed. She admires her new purple outfits, cutting off the tags and placing them in a nicely cleared space in her dresser drawer. She is so excited to have her new shoes that she takes out a pair of new socks, puts them on and then puts on her new shoes. AJ then heads downstairs and walks around the townhouse with her new shoes on for the rest of the evening.

Continue Reading - Chapter 3