It's not meant to be easy..........

[zippyfeet]

I keep telling myself as I run these days that if it feels easy then I'm not working hard enough. What on earth has happened to me? I still think about that couch potato 12 months ago and wonder at the transformation. I consider myself to be a proper runner now, running 3-4 times a week, mixing and matching between 5-10km runs, speed training and intervals, I've joined a club, am a regular parkrunner and have a GPS watch!!

Couch to 5k set me off on this course and I'd say to anyone starting this - just do it. You won't regret it. I couldn't run for more than 30 seconds in the beginning and had to do and redo a few weeks of the 5km programme but it does come together and I, as a 42 year old carrying 4 stone of excess weight can do then anyone can do it. And it's worth every bit of sweat and pain. I feel about 10 years younger and have more energy than I can ever remember having.

And if this wasn't enough I've also made new friends, lots and lots of them. There's a whole community of runners around, doing what I'm doing, not trying to win races or do pb's all the time but just running for the joy of it and to keep fit.

So, I'm not striving for an easy run - for me, it's got to be a challenge. If I'm not a sweaty heaving mess at the end of it then it wouldn't be good enough for me - testing myself and seeing what a marvellous machine my body is has made me want to look after it and this is now my lifestyle choice. Thank you NHS Choices for giving me this marvellous gift.

[Jenwrenarm Graduate]

I've been glued to this forum since I joined yesterday and it's life affirming posts like yours Zippyfeet that will make me get out of bed in the morning/get out after work and do it! Thank you. Enjoy your new found freedom and energy!

[annasee Graduate]

What I love about this programme is it's all things to all people. I started because I saw muffin tops beginning and I didn't like them! While not overweight at all, I knew I wasn't fit. Thought I couldn't run because of foot problems. Turns out I can, just needed to get on with it and take tiny incremental steps along the way, building up gradually. This forum has been a real help, and i feel so glad to have found it and to read other peoples' uplifting posts. It's as addictive as Facebook and that's saying something!