So, here we are, my first post in Bridge to 10K! Some of you may know me from C25K already but, for the first time, I feel able to post here! I graduated from C25K back in July, at which point my next goal was a novice triathlon for charity in September. That done, now my focus is on progressing my running. I do Parkruns every Saturday that I can although have found that either my confidence or my stamina - or both - has dropped since completing the programme and I often end up walking a bit of the Parkrun - not helped by the fact that it's a heinously hilly run of 4.5 laps - and I find multiple lap runs challenging and a bit demotivating. I run three times a week - one is a Parkrun, one will be running club and one is a run around the lanes where I live of around 5k although this will have to change with the onset of dark nights. Running club is a combination of normal running, drills and speed and stamina work.
Anyway, Oldfloss has encouraged me to post here and so that is what I am doing. I joined a running club on Wednesday and I finally feel that I'm moving my running forward. Aiming to get to do a 10k in the spring!
I love running but I'm not a natural runner and find it incredibly tough.
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RebeccaSK
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Parkrun is hard I reckon so,I hardly ever do it. I get too competitive so want to go for it. I'm afraid of pulling something so keep away these days while I churn out the longer distances for the marathon and half
I did pull one in as a visitor during the summer though 🏃♀️
I loved Bridge to 10k. I think it was my fave running era 😃✔️👍 I used Sami Murphy. Still do!
Hey there... welcome to the BIG school... You can sit by me if you like..
You will find that there are loads of friends whom you will know already... and the advice is incomparable... there are so many amazing runners on here, ( I am still in awe..) and they have taught and continue to teach me so much about running... you will really enjoy it here
Thank you! You are one of my inspirations Oldfloss . Not sure if I would ever have graduated C25K without you, IannodaTruffe and a few others. I'm so excited to be moving my running on!
Hi RebeccaSK - You are amongst friends! I still don't find 5K easy, and am also not a natural runner (see name!), but am glowing in the knowledge that I can do it. I had my first evening at the local running club yesterday and it was great. It was a 'drills' evening - something I've never done before. I was a bit nervous, but I found that the strength I have in my legs at the end of C25K put me in good stead and I was able to hold my own. The people were all so friendly - it definitely felt like a community I want to be part of. Just like these fabulous forums.
I really enjoyed running club. I tried a running club a few months ago and it was dreadful. Wednesday - a different club - was just amazing. We did drills too - and I'd never done them either. It was a wonderful, caring and supportive group and nobody put anyone else under any pressure. I can't wait to go back!
I too do not feel like a "natural runner". I will never be fast and I doubt I'll ever do a marathon. But I run about 25k a week at the moment and am loving what it is doing to my health and body. When people you haven't seen for a while say "wow" and you realize that you can run 10 miles without dropping dead that's when you feel good. The trick is to keep chipping away, keep running and just make it part of your life.
You may not think of yourself as a natural runner, but you are one of my most awesome inspirational runners..you have taught me so much! You are amazing!
I'm not fishing for compliments here, but it's really the other way round! You inspire me. I hope I'm running when I'm your age and if I can EVER get near your speed I will be ecstatic. But I'm getting the mileage in at the moment, loving any running tourism I can manage and feeling quite chuffed that running really is now a part of my life.
I'm nowhere near the 10 mile level yet but I've experienced an awful lot of "wows" and total amazement. My job is totally sedentary with a lot of stress and long hours. Before I started C25K I was in the worst shape of my life and the heaviest I'd ever been. I was facing blood pressure medication not to mention heading towards diabetes. Running is part of my life. I want to keep it that way. I'm lucky that the guys I work with are fitness and running freaks and they are unbelievably encouraging and supportive.
Welcome, RebeccaSK ! Your running club sounds great, and your routine sounds far better than mine! I know what you mean about multiple lap runs being a bit demotivating - I hate them! I get round one and think, 'Right! Done that, I've finished now!'
This thing about not being a natural runner - you have graduated from C25K and that takes strength, perseverance and determination and has made you a runner. That'll do nicely
The bit I find hardest about the multiple lap runs is being lapped so many times. I am slow - my 5k PB is just over 38 minutes on the flat - and I find it so demotivating being lapped by the fast runners constantly, not to mention that some of them are so focused on their PB that they have no qualms about pushing you off the path!
I think it will be a long time before I consider myself a runner - even though I've been told I am by numerous C25Kers!
Sounds like your doing great to me! I have the same issue with confidence/ stamina I guess we just keep putting one foot in front of the other!Keep up the good work
Hello! Can i join the big class too?! Sounds like you are doing really well (and of course you are a runner!). I graduated a while after you and my progression up to 10k is likely to be slooow on account of difficulties in getting out regularly, but I think it's good to have an objective even if it is a distant one.
Your routine sounds perfect - but if the Parkrun isn't to your liking, could you not substitute it with a free run, to avoid the laps? I don't like running laps either and I'd probably hate it if I had to do it with other people (closet misanthrope)... Or do you do it with friends?
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You can sit by me if you like..
My First 10k race
First Post 
My Bridge journey
First chip-timed 10K
