Week 9 done!

[FABFiona]

Well, I must admit I re-did runs 1 and 2 of week 6, and then ran all of week 9 - I didn't want to disappoint myself - and wow, just finished run 3 and added a couple of faster minutes at the end. Hark at me! I puffed and panted my way through weeks 1 and 2, and now... now I can do 30 minutes comfortably. I am still painfully slow, so I'm not at 5k yet. One thing that I suffered from was the stitch. I realised what it was. Bear with me... I wasn't running to lose weight, I wanted aerobic health - I'm not quite an ex-smoker (after 30 years), but now an e-smoker. I've always eaten pretty well though - but I realised I needed to up my calories a little each week, and because I'm not a snacker, I also need to up (a very little) my salt intake. Reading/watching some of the articles on the Guardian running website helped me realise this - and now I'm running much better.

Back to the achievement though! And many thanks to all the posters here - both the advice from those who've done it and those who are doing it. You are all inspirational, and I couldn't have done it without you! THANK YOU!

[flossieflyblow Graduate]

FabFABFiona! Well done! It's unbelievable, isn't it? You're not alone in wondering at weeks 1 or 2 if you'd ever make it!

Many Congratulations and keep going!!

[OlsBean]

Massive congratulations, well done

[Twilight1 Graduate]

Well done you make sure you get your badge!! Im going out for run 1 of week 9 tonight fingers crossed by the end of the week I will have a shiny badge by my name!!!!

[Rockette]

Well done .;

[iloverunning Graduate]

Well done that's fantastic - a huge applause to you

[Fitfor60 Graduate]

Congratulations and good luck with your running now you are a graduate

[Mummysaurus Graduate]

Congratulations

[redrunning Graduate]

Well done for graduating and with a speedy finish to boot!

[waletta Graduate]

Congratulations! You really are FAB Fiona & finishing with a flourish. That's style.