Well, who'd ever have thunk it....?

[TryingSoHard]

On the 1st April I tentatively set out on my first C25k run. April Fools anyone? That was 9 weeks ago tomorrow.

Half an hour ago I got back from my final run of Week 9.

I'm not quite at 5k (well, truth be told, at 3.5k I'm still quite a way off it). But I have, nevertheless, three times, run for 30 minutes, with my pace improving each time.

There have been highs, there have been lows, but the best is yet to come...

I have so far kept my challenge as my own little secret (apart from all of my anonymous run buddies here), knowing that no-one would believe I could do it, and fearing they would be right and that at some point I'd have to admit to failure.

But now, my lovely yet cynical family and friends, hahaha right at ya - I AM A RUNNER!!!!

[Bilby Graduate]

Congratulations! That's an amazing feeling! I'm impressed you kept it a secret, I think once I finished w5run3 I yelled it across the rooftops, let alone letting close family and friends know

Good luck with continuing to improve and run!

[Olliebollie Graduate]

Fantastic!! Welcome to the graduate club, I have been here for a whole week!! Its a lovely place to be, heres to many more runs xx

[Crismatlotta Graduate]

Congratulations! You've done it. I think speed will come later but wow you can run for 30 mins and a few weeks ago you were on the couch! What an achievement! What are your plans now?

[TryingSoHard Graduate in reply to Crismatlotta]

I think i'm going to stick with 30 minutes for a while, see if I can nudge my speed/distance up a bit. I've seen good improvement in the last three:

First one, I ran 3.26km, at a pace of 9.11 min/km.

Second one was 3.38km, at a pace of 8.53 min/km.

And third one was 3.54km, at a pace of 8.29 min/km.

so am hoping I can continue to build on that. If I plateau, then I'll start trying to run for a bit longer and see where that takes me (literally).

Or I might try some of the stamina or speed podcasts. Who knows.... the sky's the limit!

[roundbutsound Graduate]

Brilliant, well done. I did 25 mins at the weekend but I am sooooo sloooow. When I've got to 30 mins I'm hoping to concentrate on increasing my speed first then doing more distance afterwards. I have a park with hills near me so I'm going to work on lifting my knees up and strengthening my legs for some sessions in the hope that stronger legs will help me go faster. Who knows