First park run done!!

[Fitforit75]

Hi everyone, I've never posted on here before but I have followed a lot of your threads with interest. I started c25k about a year ago and then had some knee pain and fell by the wayside, I restarted recently and got as far as wk5 run 3 and then panicked at the thought of wk6 and stopped again for a while. I've got back to wk5 run 2 and am stressing a little about run 3 but will be doing it tomorrow.

For weeks now I've been wishing I was up to doing park run, our local one attracts over 500 runners at times some who do it in 17 minutes whilst I am still 6 stone overweight and not very fast!

My husband started doing the parkrun about 6 weeks ago and I've been drawn a little closer each week as he kept on improving his time and being so enthusiastic after each run.

Last Saturday he talked me into taking my wk5 run1 podcast to the park run venue (in the dark - my choice!!) and we did the circuit at my pace walking and running as necessary then going back to the beginning of the podcast in order to cover the 5k route. On Tuesday we went back - in the dark - and did wk5 run 2 and on Saturday full of terror at falling over or being the last man running I did my first park run in 41 minutes 44 seconds using wk3 run2 to keep me going.

I wanted to cry when I ran past the first marshall clapping and enthusing and once I got used to people running past (in daylight!) I settled into the run and really enjoyed myself with my hubby and dog trying to run slowly next to me

I just wanted to thank all you regular posters as you kept my interest up when I was not in the right headspace to see myself doing the run! Keep it up please

Kate x

[Buttons2000]

I'm laughing reading your post I will only run in the dark always run at night around 9pm I did say to my husband on W5 when I had to run for 20 mins perhaps I should go in daylight incase I have a heart attack at least someone will see me I am aiming to do Race for life in June 5K....... yes in Day light and can't wait to cross the finish line I've wanted to do this for years and finally found Couch to 5K can not believe how the plan works whilst taking it slow and just sticking it with the help of Laura !!

W6 R3 tomorrow 25 mins this will be fun its nice to see I'm not on my own.

[Fitforit75 Graduate in reply to Buttons2000]

Glad I'm not the only one in the dark! Keep it up - you're nearly there now!

[runswithdogs Graduate]

This is a lovely post. We don't have parkruns but I've done a few 5k races here. I always get a little teary with people cheering us runners on - it's like they know how far we've come and how it's a big deal for many of us. Will you be a regular at your parkrun now that you've set a personal best to beat?

[Fitforit75 Graduate in reply to runswithdogs]

Eventually Just need to organise my children a little better first! Our youngest was away on Sat which made it easier. I just can't imagine a time when i'll be able to run it without stopping!

[Girlyswot Graduate]

Well done on your first parkrun ! I have done 4 now and love it ! Keep us posted with your progress x

[Fitforit75 Graduate in reply to Girlyswot]

Thanks, will do - its obviously addictive! x

[old_git Graduate]

That's brilliant, I bet hubby is really proud of you! Really brave of you to do it before graduating, won't be long before you are going round running all the way.

[Northernspirit Graduate]

Wonderful you for getting out there and doing this. Full of admiration as I haven't attempted a PR yet. Good luck with the rest of the programming, you must really believe you can do it now

[juju656]

Hi there! Welcome to the boards, congrats on the park run, I'm not brave enough yet but def will be doing them in the up and coming weeks! You should be really proud of yourself, and there is no need to panic about wk5 r3, if you need to repeat it, then do, it's no problem. The main thing is to relax and enjoy it and slow down if needs be. I think you will breeze through it looking forward to reading your post when you've finished it

Thanks for posting you are inspiring

[Hidden]

Wow, well done Kate ! From running in the dark to park run in 1 week, that does take guts. I do hope you get the opportunity to give it another go and whatever you do don't give up, you're doing great.

[AllieG Graduate]

Parkrun is BRILLIANT. Well done!

[Bexter82]

Well done you, that's brilliant! Sounds like you have overcome many challenges there and you must be super proud of yourself! I was nervous about running in public as also overweight but have found the running community to be really friendly and get lots of greetings now! Keep it up

[goonkeepgoing Graduate]

Great - well done. You can add your 'covert' runs to your profile using Parkrun Freedom too. This will help you track your improvement which is always great for motivation

[5kOrBust Graduate]

Bravo! Well done you! You'll be hooked now