Introducing myself...

[Chardonnay1970]

Hi all,

I've been getting inspiration from these blogs for a few weeks now so I thought that it was time I said hello!

I'm a 43 year old female from the Midlands and am training for the Race for Life in June. I'm doing it in memory of my wonderful mum, who sadly lost her battle with Bowel Cancer in March this year. Training towards this has really given me something positive to focus on and aim for! I loved running at school (a long time ago!!!) but although I've been to the gym on and off, didn't really enjoy running on the treadmill so hadn't really done any running for a while. However, now we live in a lovely city, with lots of nice places to run, getting out in the fresh air has done me the world of good!

Anyway, I'm not following the NHS Couch to 5K, as I couldn't find the app for it on my iPhone - so I'm following an American one, but it's the same I think, just without Laura's encouragement! I wish I could find that one, but I'm about to embark on Week 6 Run 1 so I've come this far.....! Actually, I did the dreaded 20 minute run on Friday, or at least I thought I did! The first (what I thought were) 15 minutes went really quickly and I enjoyed it, but the last five minutes nearly killed me! Still, I finished and was proud of myself but as I was also using Runmaster to track my distance, I realised at the end that it must have somehow jumped ahead and I'd only done about 17 minutes Still, I'm pleased with that, and have decided to carry on with Week 6 tomorrow, as I only have 3 weeks until Race for Life, so don't really have time to go and do Week 5 run 3 again!

Sorry for the length of this first post! Thanks to you all though for the inspiration and good luck to you all!

[LMS2110 Graduate]

Welcome! So very sorry to hear of your loss, but what an amazing gesture to start with us here on the C25K forum, and to train for a RfL in memory of your mum. The podcasts for this programme are downloadable from the Internet, rather than being a smart phone app! I have mine on a good old MP3 player, but I believe they can also be obtained from iTunes - sorry, not certain on that one as it didn't really apply for me. (If you are interested, check out the NHS Choices home page where there is a URL link to the downloadable podcasts for use on phones and MP3 players)

nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/...

The NHS podcasts might appeal right now as you hit week 6, because at the end of these our lovely , encouraging Laura actually tells you that you are really a runner...at the very end of the recording! It is a tremendous psychological boost!

Weeks 7-9 are pretty much continuous runs although there is a little commentary from time to time - the music is selected to encourage you to pace yourself steadily.

Whatever you decide to do as you approach the RfL, I wish you all the best. Perhaps you can be persuaded to return to us to consolidate your stamina etc after the RfL ... As we also have follow on help, podcasts and heaps of enthusiastic people all helping one another to get fitter and faster. They really are the friendliest, most supportive group of people on the Internet.

Good luck with your lead up to the Race, let us know how the final stages of training go, and think about joining us on our programme soon, if you can.

Best wishes, Linda

[greenlegs Graduate]

Welcome! You can download the podcasts from itunes - search for NHS and they should be easy to find. It's worth having the week 6 run 3 one, because that's the one where Laura tells you you're a runner. Sounds silly, but my goodness, lots of people find that pretty special!

Where are you doing your Race for Life? I'm in the midlands too, and am doing the Warwick one at Stoneleigh.

[Fiddler71 Graduate]

I had to download the 'podcast' app first and then download the podcasts within that app. Hope that helps!!

[Plinth Graduate]

Yep, podcast app (search app sore for podcast , its the apple one) then search in it for nhs (you may even have already if latest iOS) :

itunes.apple.com/gb/app/pod...

[Chardonnay1970 Graduate]

Hello all, thanks for the welcome and also thanks for your kind words Linda! Also, thank you all for the advice - I will download the podcasts from itunes - it does sound like they will be useful!

Greenlegs, we are doing the Race for Life at Worcester Racecourse on 16th June so you are not too far away from me Training for this has helped me so much and I think it's helped my dad too who at nearly 74 took up running half marathons in his 70s and is a regular at the gym! He's very excited about coming to watch so I can't let him down!

Well this morning was a bit of a disaster - I didn't make it out at all I'm afraid! Slept really badly (hubby snoring etc ;/), feel like I have a cold coming and pouring with rain here! I don't have a waterproof jacket so I've now invested in one online so that there are no excuses from now on! Plus I have a 10 hour day at work to face today, so I've had to give it a miss today, which will unfortunately set me off course slightly, but never mind.

Linda, I would love to stay around to consolidate my stamina thanks. I am going to put my name down for a competitive 5K in July and I really want to keep building on this....it's addictive!

Thanks again for the welcome all, and look forward to hearing about your progress!

[greenlegs Graduate in reply to Chardonnay1970]

All the best for your Race for Life - how lovely to have your dad cheering you on - he sounds brilliant!

I have a waterproof jacket, but it spends more time tied round my middle than keeping me dry - not sure why I bother taking it really, as it comes off after about ten minutes because I'm too hot! I should just go out expecting to get wet, but can't quite psych myself up for it.

[LillyBeth]

Hello Chardonnay1970. Sorry to hear about your Mum; mine died almost 2 years ago of Mesothelioma (a form of lung cancer linked to asbestos) and I'm also planning on running the Race for Life here in the Midlands (but in Hereford in July rather than Worcester). I'm only on week 2 (run 2 tomorrow) and will be on week 9 during the race, so hopefully I should be ready. Good luck for your run.

[Chardonnay1970 Graduate]

Thanks greenlegs - he is brilliant and I'm so very proud of him after all he's been through with losing my mum. Dad did actually say to me after I bought the jacket that they can make you sweat, but I need one anyway, and it was only £14, reduced from £45, so sure it'll come in handy, even if I don't use it for running! Another rainy morning - it's so hard to go out when it's like that isn't it?! I still feel under the weather so am having to have an enforced break from running at the moment anyway, which is very frustrating, but can't be helped!

[Chardonnay1970 Graduate]

Hi LillyBeth! Thanks for your kind words and so sorry to hear about your mum too. Cancer is such a vile disease, especially when you see what it can do to someone that you love so much. You feel so helpless don't you?! That's why I think that running the Race for Life is a good thing to do - at least it makes you feel that you can do something positive and to fight back!

Ah, I lived in Hereford, and Herefordshire for years! My friend has run the Race for Life in Hereford a few times and she's coming over to run it with me in Worcester in June. Good luck with the programme, sounds like you'll be on track for running the 5k! I've fallen a bit behind this week, with not being well, so I'm not sure I'll be quite up to 5k by then, but if I can jog most of the way I'll be happy and it's a start isn't it?!