New Hobby - Running!

So I'm sure you've heard of people who train to run marathons or half-marathons? Well, I'm training to run a 5K.. lol
Start small, right?! :) Babysteps as the FlyLady would say!

Little background:
My dad and younger sister are both runners. Dad has run many marathons, half-marathons, 10Ks, 5Ks, all kinds of stuff on all kinds of terrain. My sister was on varsity track and cross-country for long-distance running in high school and ran her first marathon a couple years ago. Me... not a runner! Apparently the running gene skips a child. ;) I do enjoy running, I'm just not very good at it. I think I just push myself to hard - trying to live up to the family name or something! lol
I, as you have heard, do kung fu and tai chi (well, tai chi really is a form of kung fu - just slowed down a bit!).. I have been doing a ton of that lately - going in 4-5 times a week and spending anywhere from 9-11 hours a week on it (including group classes, lessons, and independent practice). I know, more than some people work out in a year, right?! However; tai chi is not exactly known for it's cardiovascular health benefits so I figured I need to step that up a bit! I have a gym membership through work (it's one of the health benefits) but I just don't use it since I'm not paying for it (!) and I'm at kung fu so darn much!

I've been hearing on the Nest about this C25K program (Couch to 5K) and have been quite curious about it. I honestly just kept blowing it off since I've always thought I wouldn't be able to do it. Then I did some math and realized 5K is only 3 miles... I could do that! It's not like I want to come in first place or anything! So, after my Wednesday afternoon tai chi class (I will miss that when work starts up again!) I decided I needed another thing to do (!) and that I was going to start the program this week.
I got home and logged onto the website for it - Cool Running - to find out what it is really all about. Basically, you spend 9 weeks doing 3 workouts per week. They start out very slowly and gradually work up to 3 miles. It seems so do-able! I figure I can do some workouts at the gym on the treadmill and some I can do running around the townhouse complex just to get a feel for the road as opposed to some fake rubber thing! I'd run around the neighborhood/the block but it's full of steep hills so it's probably best not to start out there!
My goal is to complete the first 9 week session by mid-September then start it over again and plan on participating in a 5K early next year. Taking it slow but I think that's the whole point of this program. I'll keep posting on here about how I'm doing and what each of the workouts are.
I'm starting tomorrow - wish me luck!
Hmmm.. guess it's time to update the iPod!