Trials and Declarations

It is unusual for me to get two blog posts in during a single day. I consider myself lucky if I get one in per week. I wrote earlier today I was going to start Couch to 10k. It is advertised that by following this regime and doing the workouts 3 time per week, in 13 weeks, I will be ready to do a 10 k without stopping. I did indeed start this evening. I started shortly after I got home and let the dogs outside for their "yard time." It took about 40 minutes and it was a lot more work than I expected.
For those of you who are interested in the stats, the first step was to walk for 4 minutes 30 seconds and then run for 30 seconds. This interval repeated itself 7 times. During this workout, I went just a little over 2 miles and burned 230 calories.
These are the lessons that I learned from trying this method.

1) My workout playlist needs a serious makeover. Those who have read some of my previous posts know that I need to have my tunes during my workout. I set the playlist to random and I definitely need to get some songs with more energy. I will be working on that correction. I am open to suggestions.
2) After trying a couple of different approaches during the workout, holding on to my iPod worked best. I did have event where the iPod flew off the bookshelf of my treadmill. Who reads while running on the treadmill anyway?\
3) I am still very happy with the shoes I wrote about in a previous post. I definitely want to continue to use them and get another pair for running outside. I have a different pair of shoes that I can use in the meantime.
4) Running on the treadmill is loud, so I will have to do it after work. I don't want to wake my wife up in the early morning hours.
5) I am not very flexible. Stretching is very difficult for me, so I think I am going to have to start doing it daily. When I stretched this afternoon, it sounded like the whole upper half of my skeleton was resetting. I dont expect to be goalie flexible when I am done, but, I hope to be able to be competitive in a limbo competition. Speaking of competition....

I know I have talked about 10k's and working out, losing weight and a little about stress reduction. I am something of a goal oriented person. The 10k races will be a step in my progression toward the my goal, as will half and full marathons as well as bike races. The goal that I have set for my self is to complete an Ironman Triathlon at the age of 40. I figure that gives me 3 years to train. Now that I have said it and published it, than I need to get it done. I don't plan to talk a whole lot about the triathlon at this point, rather focus on the running or bike race that is right in front of me.

I appreciate your support, prayers and comments. Keep the music and informations suggestions coming.

Addition: In response to Lindsay's comment, I have read the Couch to 10k online before as a post from Cool Running Magazine. I am actually using an app for the iPhone that uses the same process. This blogging software doesn't appear to like links, so if you want the link, send me an email at 1pairofshoes@gmail.com and I will send it to you.