Great Site!

[CaminoPilgrim]

Wow, so pleased I have found this site. Earlier this year I completed the Camino de Santiago - 77klms walk from France to Spain and have been looking for another challenge . I have been thinking about upping the ante so to speak and getting into running but had no idea where to start. Having read the posts I am so motivated now to get started, especially when I mentioned it to my husband on my birthday this week (61) what I was going to do and his response was 'you're too old to start now'.

Well, that was a red flag to a bull, so I spent my birthday money on getting some decent running shoes and preparations are now under way to get started!

Week 1 to start on Monday morning at 5.00am (I live in Qld where it's way too hot to start any later). I will be reading as much as I can as I really want to make a go of this.

Diane

[Bazza1234 Graduate]

Hi Diane

It is a great challenge - and a great feeling of achievement when you finish the programme. Welcome to our C25K group.

Bazza (68YO) - Another Queenslander - who runs at 4.30AM in the summer heat!!

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate in reply to Bazza1234]

Thanks Bazza, where are you in Qld, I'm on the Gold Coast

[Bazza1234 Graduate in reply to CaminoPilgrim]

Just outside Beenleigh

[Bazza1234 Graduate]

BTW - you will find most activity on this site early morning and early evening our time!!

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate in reply to Bazza1234]

Thanks Bazza will check in around those times

[Hidden]

Go for it Diane ! Take it slow and steady and you WILL become a runner. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Thankyou, thinking I may start tomorrow and not wait until Monday!

[moonmar Graduate]

I started when I was 56 and one month. And I have a feeling by far that we are not the oldest on this forum.

The last time I had run was for a bus, and before that at school at 15. Hated it then. Now I feel withdrawal symptoms if I haven't put on my trainers.

I will never run a half marathon but I can recommend you go for it. It is a great feeling.

And this forum is so, so helpful.

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate in reply to moonmar]

I can see the support will keep me motivated, thankyou

[Gary-S Graduate]

Well done !!

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate in reply to Gary-S]

Thankyou!

[ju-ju- Graduate]

A very big welcome to the group. You are certainly well prepared to start running after all that walking!!! I wish you all the best, enjoy it, and get your husband to do it with you???!!

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate in reply to ju-ju-]

Thankyou for the warm welcome, I can't get my husband to walk with me so no chance of him running, but that's o/k, I can do this on my own

[gingernut49 Graduate]

I didn't start until I was 63! I'd thoroughly recommend the NHS Couch to 5k podcasts rather than trying to use an app. You can find these on nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/... and you just download them like any other music file and put them on your mp3 player (mine is my phone) and off you go! I graduated in April 2013 and I still run around 5k three times a week.

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate in reply to gingernut49]

Thankyou, I have downloaded the podcasts onto my phone so I'm really looking forward to getting started. It's good to hear that you have kept running - I'm hoping this will be a permanent lifestyle change for me.

[Hidden]

That's interesting, where did you walk from and to? I live half the year in a little place called Cordes Sur Ciel in France, that's one of the staging posts on the route..

Loads of us here are not in the first flush of youth so to speak, you're never to old to start taking care of yourself...good luck with the programme, I look forward to reading your posts.

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Thankyou, I started in St Jean Pied de Port in France and walked to Santiago. What a beutiful country Spain is. My cousin lives in Alicante so I have been to Spain a couple of times but this was such a wonderful way to see the countryside and meet such lovely locals in all the villages we walked through.

[Hidden in reply to CaminoPilgrim]

Surely that's more than 77 KM? Did you mean 770? I love Santiago, I go there often for weekends.. every bar you go to gives you a little tapas with your wine or coffee, including pastries for breakfast, I don't think I bought a full meal there ever! Cheaper than staying at home! And the cathedral is something else...

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Woops - bit of a typo there, yes it was 775 kms! I loved Santiago too, so many places to enjoy the food. How lucky are you to live so close by, I would be joining you I think if I could visit on the weekends...

[Hidden in reply to CaminoPilgrim]

I don't live close by, but just a short flight with those nice people at RyanAir from Stansted...I looked up your route, or at least the one I think you would have taken, you passed through some pretty places.. how long did it take you?

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Hi Curlygurly,

It took us 39 days. When we started we were doing an average of 19 Klm's per day. After a week we realised we needed to increase the average as we had a flight booked back to Oz so we increased it to 23-25 Klm's per day. A couple of days we did 30+Klm's to catch up. absolutely beautiful countryside and lovely villages. I would recommend this to anyone that loves walking. It was so lovely to be cut off from the world with no TV, no news, no newspapers.

[ginbin Graduate]

I'm 66 and began running about 18 months ago and have done seven 5ks since March. I hated gym class in school but the C25k program makes running fun. Laura is a good coach. Make sure you take the "rest" days...you need them to rest your muscles. I'm sure you'll be hooked like the rest of us in no time.

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate in reply to ginbin]

Thankyou, I will visit this site as people are so supportive. I'm so looking forward to progressing through each week. I'm sure I will find it challenging but I'm in no rush and want to avoid any injuries.

[ginbin Graduate in reply to CaminoPilgrim]

If you are on Facebook, you might want to check out this group's sister, C25k-ers. A lot of us post there as well.

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate in reply to ginbin]

Thanks Ginbin, my first 2 days of week one have gone well!

[petraj Graduate]

That's brilliant that you're all fired up for starting C25K! My husband poo-pooed me wanting to start running too, but I did start (back in April or May) and I'm still enjoying it just as much, and running 3 times a week. After a week or so of doing the programme, once he realised I was pretty serious about it, he stopped saying anything and became 'almost' supportive!

Have fun doing it, as other people have said 'Don't go too fast.. pace yourself!' and I look forward to reading about your progress on here. x

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate in reply to petraj]

Thankyou, good to hear that you didn't let your husband put you off, hope I can do as well as you x

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate in reply to petraj]

Thankyou, good to hear that you didn't let your husband put you off, hope I can do as well as you x

[Ullyrunner Graduate]

You go girl! Good luck with the programme.

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate in reply to Ullyrunner]

Thankyou!

[Bazza1234 Graduate]

Diane

Just to boost your enthusiasm a bit - you might like to go to one of your local Parkruns on the Gold Coast (and you have some beauties!!) 7AM every Saturday morning - and see what people ( who haven't even done C25K) are doing . You don't have to run the 5K - plenty just walk it -- but I actually used the Parkruns to do one of each week's C25K days . I ran/walked my way through C25k via a number of Parkrun sites.

Have a look here parkrun.com.au/

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate in reply to Bazza1234]

Thanks Bazza that's a great suggestion. As you say there are a few parkruns on the Gold Coast so I will certainly check them out and include it in my training. Will be good to run once a week with other enthusiastic runners.

[Hidden]

Welcome Diane, I'm a few months older than you and graduated a few weeks ago. It took until this week for me to acheive 5k (I graduated running for 30 minutes but was week short of the fab 5). You'll be fine, and you're right! This is a fantastic, friendly, supportive forum - we are lucky indeed!

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate]

Thankyou for the welcome, I am amazed how many people have responded to my initial post, feel very supported and once I get started I'm sure I will have a few work colleagues I can get interested in running.

[Pigivi]

Welcome! never too old!!

[CaminoPilgrim Graduate in reply to Pigivi]

Thankyou!