What has running done for you? Why Did you start?

[jogon83]

Good Afternoon, so I've been coming to the site almost daily as the community of runners which I once thought were a bunch of miserable people are in fact so lovely! I am on week 6 now of the c25k and I think I am addicted to running. I had heard of the c25k before and in fact done it for a couple of weeks a couple of years ago and just gave up don't ask me why I can't give a valid reason. Around 7 weeks ago i was talking to one of my friends on facebook, she had done a marathon last year and was quite inquisitive about the whole thing thats when she suggested c25k, so I thought why not! At the time I was going though a lot of stress in my life breakup etc which i won't bore you with but I decided I needed to do something about my life and my appearance ( i'm not an ugly duckling but you know what it's like when you gain a few pounds), knowing I am overweight but mainly wanted to get fit and get through the challenge. Now you now what my main reasons were for taking up running what were your lets share our experiences, I'm sure everyone would love to know

main benefits for me

1. Gives me a chance for alone time

2. clears my head (it's the only time I don't really have anything going on in my head when i am running)

3. I know I am bettering myself fitness, mind and body

4. I like to push myself even when I am feeling a bit tired ( it soon wakes me up!)

5. Clarity - being able to do something that I never thought was possible

6. knowing i am burning fat at the same time as keeping fit

7. the connection between other runners and cyclist ( we cant stop for a chat but a simple nod of the head or hello will suffice)

8. The open air

9. taking your feet anywhere you want to.

10. friends noticing i've been running a lot more and saying im crazy and they'd never be able to do it! ha ha ( i always tell them they can!)

I am sure there is more to it but it's more a feeling of exhileration that non runners wouldn't understand

I AM A RUNNING ADDICT AND PROUD!!!

[Rignold]

11. Makes me a Goddam sexual tyrannosaurus

[jogon83 in reply to Rignold]

ha ha ha Rignold! yeah that as well

[misswobble Graduate in reply to jogon83]

Ha ha !

I think the word "exhilarating" was used already this morning. By me I think. LOL

"Ouch was probably another" Go steady, take care.

I suppose there are miserable runners, but having said that, I met one or two dead scary-looking runners at my first race, and they looked dead mean. They were in the elites, but standing next to a guy who was moving nervously from one leg to the other whilst waiting for the medals he began to chat to me as I think he was really nervous. Probably chose me as the benign old dear. LOL He was lovely! Never judge a book by its cover.

[jogon83 in reply to misswobble]

Hello misswobble,

your definitely right you can't judge a book by it's cover but I probably thought they were all miserable when i was driving everywhere and jealous of the fact i wasn't running and thought how do they do that? ha ha!!! Sorry if i have reposted a post that has already been touched upon recently but your right it is exhilerating.

[goonkeepgoing Graduate in reply to Rignold]

12. My new muscles make my hubby a goddam sexual tyrannosaurus

It has changed my life (running that is - just to be clear). I feel like a different woman. The whole family social activity now resolves around running and Parkruns. My 60 year old Mum is now also a Graduate and runs 3 times a week.

You keep at it. It is good for the body and the soul. Good luck

[MarkyD Graduate in reply to Rignold]

Tiny flappy arms????

[goonkeepgoing Graduate in reply to MarkyD]

LOL!!!! Took me a while to get that as I'm not very up on my dinosaurs

Maybe I should stick up for him and say he has a huge tail

[Hidden]

My reasons? Well I have wanted to be able to run/jog for a long time. I tried by myself, over the years but didn't get very far with it - I just found jogging outside too hard! I had heard of c25k but thought all this downloading of podcasts was too much effort. A month a go we entered an office team for a 5k obstacle colour run and I signed up. Now I had a deadline this was all the motivation I needed to start c25k. Never dreamt I'd enjoy it so much! And here I am. W4 R1 tonight

[jogon83 in reply to Hidden]

aww wow are you on track for your colour obstacle run with the training then? sound like fun that! i wanted to do the colour run (the dulux one) but the date was a bit too soon for me i wouldnt have finished. i did look at the colour obstacle run and it looks amazing im sure you will finish it before you know it with all that fun running well done on getting this far i'm only a couple of weeks ahead of you so know what your going through at the moment what date you running mimsickle?

[Hidden in reply to jogon83]

Hi Jogon. I am on track yes I have worked out I am due to graduate at the beginning of September, which gives me a few weeks before the colour obstacle run. It also gives me a bit of time if I need to repeat a run (or week). Do you have any runs planned for after you graduate?

[jogon83 in reply to Hidden]

no not yet, I am planning on doing week 9 3 times a week for around 1-2 months then hopefully move onto the c25k plus after that. Once I get into a steady pace with that i'm gonna try my first park run, its not far from me really they are held every saturday so its something else to look forward to

[Hidden in reply to jogon83]

That sounds great. I'm thinking of doing parkrun after I graduate and before my 5k to give me a bit of practice. I'm sure I will be the slowest there, but ho hum, I will try not to care!

[jogon83 in reply to Hidden]

even if you are the slowest it doesnt matter, i am quite a slow runner and know that in time once i get fitter i will get faster! and so will you dont worry about times, i have read so many posts on here that the people that come last usually get more cheers than the people in the middle anyway at least you will have finished and succeeded in another goal and thats an achievement in itself

[poppypug Graduate in reply to jogon83]

I came last in the Manchester Mile beginning of the month. Everyone else had finished and were having a cuppa tea in the clubhouse ha ha

It was 4 laps of a 400 metre athletic track . I ran the last one and a half laps completely on my own. I got a huge round of applause and lots of cheers . It was amazing, I was talking to someone after and she told me that I was the only one all night to get a standing ovation and I said " I think they felt sorry for me " and she said " No, it was the fact that you kept on going " So there you have it - Never give in ! xxx

[jogon83 in reply to poppypug]

aww poppypug it must have been your post i was reading i love this story!

[poppypug Graduate in reply to jogon83]

Thankyou , that is very kind of you xxx

[jogon83 in reply to poppypug]

It's true though, makes me think if that was me i'd be doing the same thing even if i was crawling to the finish line.

[poppypug Graduate in reply to jogon83]

Ha ha, I was ! xxx

[jogon83 in reply to poppypug]

awww so proud of you!

[poppypug Graduate in reply to jogon83]

Thank you ! xxx

[Hidden in reply to poppypug]

Thanks for sharing Poppy. That's pretty encouraging to know you received such a good reception from the other runners and also that you kept on going. It gives me a bit of hope and encouragement. My main fear with Parkrun was that I will be terrible and all the others great. I've not had much luck in sport so far, but maybe it is time to grow a thicker skin!

[poppypug Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Hi Mimsickle, thankyou xxx

Why don't you go along to your local Parkrun and just have a nosy first if you don't feel confident to do it just yet ?

My local one is brilliant, lots of shapes, sizes, ages, kids , mums with buggies, dogs . Yes there are some proper racing snakes who do it in less than 20 minutes , but mostly times vary up to maybe 50 minutes at ours . It doesn't matter , honestly xxx

[lindajayne in reply to Hidden]

I would say you could do a parkrun run now. I did one at week 3 and was so scared haha im not struggling on week 5 but doing my second parkrun tomorrow. No one cares if you walk any and I found that following the app helps. I've signed up to a colour run in September so it was nice to see how slow/fast I am now then I can see how much work I need to put in. It gives me a guide and if im totally rubbish tomorrow I know I can always back out of the event. Do your local parkrun asap if you feel up for it. I nearly stopped halfway but made myself finish. Even if you walk more than run you should do it

[jogon83 in reply to lindajayne]

really? i dont feel fit enough yet? i would have liked to be able to run 5k before even contemplating it and i believe the c25k has been named wrong really as i sometimes do 5k with a mixture of walking a running but if i follow the guide it only comes back at around 3.5k which i was a bit disappointed with. i was expecting to be able to run 5k at the end of 9 weeks but am expecting it to be more like 3.5 k still great for the time but if you think id be ready then may have to rethink hmmmm.

[lindajayne in reply to jogon83]

I only do about 2 miles with the app so when I get to the last 5 min walk I restart the app (as it starts with a 5 min walk) then just carry on going til the end. I'm no way fit at all but once ive got my breath back I can run a little bit more then walk again. Plus when you're there you'll use others as targets/pacers. I just think I can walk 5k so even if I do a little bit of running it'll be fine but in that environment you get swept along and you get competitive. Maybe try the track out one day when its not parkrun and see how you feel. I can safely say I'm 99% sure you could finish even if you walk more than you run

[jogon83 in reply to lindajayne]

aww fab thank you for that boost i am going to go up there tomorrow to the track and try it out now, thanks for that. I quite confident in how the plan has gone so far so if i just go up there and do my normal run tomorrow then il know what to expect. did you find yourself running faster to catch up with people then, how did you find it without getting out of breath. i'm a panter ha ha!

[lindajayne in reply to jogon83]

I sound like a dirty old man sound as my mouth is always gasping haha At first I ran too fast so struggled then next one but if you do your normal pace and follow the app you'll be fine. I didn't try to race people but watching people around me I just tried to keep up with the slower ones so I didn't just give up. Give as much or as little as you can but you'll be surprised I think. Good luck x

[jogon83 in reply to lindajayne]

thanks i'll keep you posted!!!

[Hidden in reply to lindajayne]

So what is parkrun like Linda? Are there people of mixed abilities or are they mainly all super speedy and fit? A lot of the runners I see in running clubs look so lean and it looks effortless.

[rmnsuk Graduate in reply to Hidden]

there are around 300 people at my parkrun. I do about 30 minutes and come in around 200. Plenty of much slower people and they always have a tail runner to encourage the last few. You'll never cross the line alone and you'll always get a cheer.

[misswobble Graduate]

Parkruns brings out runners all! Fast,slow, fat, thin, young, old, men, women. All out to have a good time, bacon sarnis and drinks post run. Bliss. Folks were lovely to me and I thank goodness I went. So will you!

runners like us do it to get a run out and to find out where we are in running terms and what we can when pitched against someone else. The elites are speed building for racing and they won't bother us at all. We just keep left and let them zoom past. they will clap everyone else home though. Well, they do at ours. It's all very relaxed so don't worry

[Bazza1234 Graduate in reply to misswobble]

I incorporate my weekly training programme into parkrun. For example, today will be a non-stop 5 K tempo paced run - done as part of a HM run/walk training programme I think I am now past the continual attempts to break PB's at parkrun Time to use the run for something more useful - and to enjoy!!

[Flossie62]

I started running because 2 yrs ago I had a hysterectomy and plunged head first into menopause. My weight has slowly increased and driving a bus all day doesn't really help.

I've always hated running, at school I was a short distance sprinter and hurdler but that was my limit.

I was sat on my bus one day and watched a group running along the seafront, I thought to myself I could do that , so I did !

I'm now on wk 4 and loving it, sometimes it's a struggle getting home in the evening after 10 hrs on a bus but once I'm out there I love it. I take my fat lazy Jack Russell with me and she just plods along at her own pace, I'm slow but she's even slower lol

[jogon83 in reply to Flossie62]

well done you!!! Love all these stories each one so different!

[ju-ju- Graduate]

Lovely post...good to see you have the love 😎

[Dunnja Graduate]

I was sorta in the same position jogon and decided to change my life, I have and I too am totally addicted.

Long may it continue 😀😀

[jogon83 in reply to Dunnja]

Well done and congrats for making the change with such a stressful time. It helps to release those chemicals!

[Bazza1234 Graduate]

OK - confession time!!

PRIDE!!!

I am not normally one to be "proud" of anything - pride has never ever entered my domain. But - just lately, it has entered my consciousness. I have become just a bit proud of myself -- proud to be able to do what I am doing - proud to not have a beer belly anymore - proud that I can walk to the top of a hill without puffing. etc - etc. Pride in comparing myself with most other contemporaries. I am now even starting to believe that it is this "pride" which is maintaining my enthusiasm and causing me to consider that perhaps there is still yet a long way for me to go!!

[jogon83 in reply to Bazza1234]

I agree pride is a major factor for me also! you should be proud of yourself well done!

[Bartycleaverjones Graduate]

I started running because I needed a distraction. I am having a "new build" house built and was getting frustrated with the waiting. I had 13 weeks till the due date when I started couch to 5k, and gave myself the target of running 5k in 30min before I move. I'm currently in Week 9 of the programme, and can do 5k in about 33mins, that combined with the predictable delay on the house means I'm hopeful I'll meet my target.