Well after a return to running last week, I got thinking of why I enjoy it so much, I was thinking of all of the things I have learned about running, the way I have started to enjoy it so much and in such a short time too. Learning the technique and the correct way to keep a pace & realising that speed isn't everything.
About how the body can adapt and go far beyond what we initially thought was possible. The exhilaration of getting there and that brilliant feeling when you finish and have that YES I'VE DONE IT moment (I’m going to miss my shadow on the darker nights because he won’t be there to do my high5 with!). Above all else, running is something which I never ever thought I would find myself doing.... all of this is down to this brilliant C25K program.
Me running!! Me a runner!! Nah not on your nelly …. But do you know what – I AM THAT RUNNER
When I started back in April, I was dragging my sorry arse up and down my long road. I had deliberately chosen a quiet place so nobody else could see my attempts as I learned the ropes. Now since graduation, I have moved out onto the towpath and it really is a brilliant place to run.
From now on, Sunday is officially known as Runday, and it’s all about getting in the longer run. About pushing myself and building up on what I have already learned. So I got out there yesterday with a 60 minute target – 30out + 5walk + 30back – a whole flipping hour of running! It was a fantastic morning though, beautifully sunny with just that slight coolness - mmmmm perfect conditions.
As I hit the towpath a dozen club runners were coming the other way – everyone smiled or nodded “morning” “morning”, a few dog walkers, cyclists, anglers, boaters & even blackberry pickers, blimey such a busy place – I kind of missed the solitude of my slow long road, but only for a moment.
Then Endomondo chirped up that was 5k completed, in the past that would have been game over, end of run for me - 5k done 30+mins done, box ticked and wait for the next one. But now it was time for a brisk 5 minute walk & stretch, then turn around and head back….
Not only did I do the full 60mins of running = YES…. If I include the half way walk I sneakily clocked in 10k at 1hour 7mins = double YES …… I’m not just a runner, I’m a 10k runner and that really really does feel good.
So my advice is that no matter where you are on your C25K journey, no matter how many days when you don’t feel like you that runner, for all of us on here there is one thought – just stick with it & eventually all your hard work will pay off…. 6 months ago I never dreamed I would get this far – who knows how far I will get in the next 6.
We are all such lucky people to have discovered this secret ability that our bodies have kept from us for so long, that we can actually RUN. Your thoughts mirror mine absolutely and help me on my aim to hit 10k by the end of this month. Such pleasure to be had from taking control of our own bodies is something that is difficult to conceive until you start a programme like this.
Thanks - that's exactly what I do when these longer runs seem so daunting, just think back a month or two and see what you were doing then and now look at what you can do. I never cease to be amazed at the progress.
and don't forget - a bad run is still a run - and it's over and done with now!
This is true also! Thanks! I'm already forgetting about it being bad, but clocking it as another couple of miles that I wouldn't have been able to do 3 months ago!
Hi MatthewW! Thanks for such a brilliant and inspiring post. Your posts are all so motivating and encouraging and lovely to read! And you always manage to show the comical side of things too!
Did you just jump up to 10K or has it been a gradual build up? Seems a huge leap in one go.
So pleased to hear from you again.
Keep on blogging and inspiring us all! Thanks Matthew!
Thank you Beek - I have always tried to get across just how running makes me feel, but I am glad that others can find some inspiration & get motivated from reading what's going on in my little head!
oh the 10k - that has taken a while - my 2nd run post graduation I thought I had super human powers and ran my first 10k by accident because I felt fine after the first 5 and carried on - and what a mistake that was. I had 2 weeks laid up with bad shins & no running.
Found my feet again and decided to build up distance by increasing the duration each run. But a tip I have learned from a running friend at work (also from the plan I am trying to follow) is to take a walk break at your half way point of around 10% of your run time ..... so to get from 30 mins to 40 mins of running I did 20+2+20 - then to hit 50mins was 25+3+25. So yesterday was the hour so 30+5+30, .... small targets with small increases. Next week I am fancying 35+5+35
From painful experience, I would not recommend any huge leaps from one week to the next.
Thank you, it certainly makes you feel that you can change the world when you're in the run all day zone.... But then I know I'm still at the very very start of this journey, hopefully there are many years running left in me yet...
I can relate to the "me? Run? Are you mad?" I'm not even sure what spurred me on but I'm sure glad I stumbled across C25K
I started running with my dog, and still do but I find that we have different agenda's so I prefer leaving him at home (but feel really guilty!)
Feel just the same! Who would have guessed I could run - certainly not my PE teacher at school, who had to chivvy us along quite severely during cross country- I hated it! Well done on your achievements.
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