I started week one day one on sunday and did day two today. I am a smoker and a drinker and have never enjoyed excersize. I skipped PE for the last two years of school due to anxiety. I still feel the anxiety so instead of using the park which is a 5 min walk from me - i take the back streets. I am absolutely loving it. I almost threw up towards the end of sundays run but didnt get that feeling today. I have never been able to excersize before as i have felt as if i didnt know how but the app is amazing, keeps me motivated and feeling good! I am excited to get di my third day on thurs and begin week two next week! I love reading everyone elses inspirational posts.
I do need a new pair of trainers though!
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freshApril
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I smoked up until 24 years ago and drank more then, now I can take it or leave it.
Anxiety is what I've suffered from since a small child, and it stops you from doing a lot of things doesn't it, and it makes you upset & unhappy at times, but I've now learnt to manage it more now.
l find the running does help with this, just get the kit on and get out of the door, don't think shall I or shan't I, I know what it's like.. And don't worry about anyone else just do the programme, you will reap the benefit's..
I have a mate whose preparation for a climb up Kilimanjaro was to drink a bit more and keep smoking at the same rate. On top, he sat down for a smoke, and to enjoy the scenery while everyone hurried to turn around and race back down to the oxygen you find at lower altitudes.
While they were making us vomit and cry for our mothers in the army all those years ago, just about all of us smoked like chimneys and drank as much as we possibly could, and we sort of survived it all.
So what I'm saying is you can manage fitness as a drinker and smoker.
However ...
You're definitely making things harder for yourself. If you need to first keep finding this unexpected joy of running, just carry on as you are, and get that established. But maybe make some future plan to eventually stop building a hill for yourself out of smokes and beer? Nothing more than that. Don't invite any anxiety on this point. Just make some kind of vague "tomorrow's tomorrow" kind of promise to get onto it one day for now.
Great to hear you're feeling good already. Well done with getting started, and good luck with finding that one day the reason you run is because you want to run. You can do it (with or without the smokos and the beer).
Thank you, i do agree, i do want to stop smoking and am investing in an electric one, i dont smoke two hrs before running but would prefer to stop all together, so glad i stumbled across c2 5k as its really inspiring me in all aspects of my lifestyle, thank you for you advice
OK, I've got some good news for you then (maybe). I never imagined I'd be able to give up, so I tried a compromise with myself: I would just keep smoking till it killed me (non smokers trying to use fear to save us just can't understand, eh?). I would smoke, but only "when absolutely necessary". For everything else there was the electric cigarette, and for that I took the highest nicotine dose you could buy. You see, it really is just the nicotine you're addicted to, not the habit etc. much as this may seem to be the case.
Now if you've not discovered this already, electric cigarettes are pretty disgusting when you start to get your taste and smell back (and those come back in like 2 days; quite amazing; and the world stinks, so it's something I wouldn't bother looking forward to). Disgusting as they are, with much less discipline than it takes to go cold turkey (or worse, cut down) they are a completely adequate (adequate isn't anywhere close to perfect) substitute for the real thing.
For me, the disgustingness of the electronic cigarettes helped me reduce my intake to only the necessary nicotine, and brought me close enough to the escape hatch to see that I could jump and be free if I went "NOW". The final moment was quite sudden. I saw a gap, took it, suffered a bit, persisted, suffered a bit more, persisted a bit more, and finally somehow got free.
(Every time I remember this, it seems to be a bit different. It happened quite a long time ago, now)
But don't sweat that too much for the time being. Get the good habit of running going, and hope to find the peacefulness or delight that it can surprisingly give if only you do it the right way (c25k vs PE). You can reach a point where you Want to run (but it sounds like "not always"), and at that point you will run just because you want to. No more (or much less of) scolding yourself or reasoning yourself into it. Once you're there, you're going to be stronger. Maybe even strong enough to say, "Hey, I don't need these smokes; they're messing up my runs".
Hope that helps a bit. (Sorry about the unreliability of my memory of the precise details of how I escaped the smokes).
Well done for getting out there but I go with what Gary said. I have done the c25k both as a smoker and non-smoker. Doing it as a N/S win hands down. You can actually take huge breaths to get oxygen in and you don't have to stop every few seconds to have a coughing fit!
Thank you! I am looking forward to conquering the smoking habit. I have already cut down on my drinking from 4-6 nights a week to 1-2. That was before i started c 2 5k so am a bit scared to just suddenly stop smoking too after i have just started excersizing. I dont want my body to pack up on me as must be a shock to the system lol. It is a bit of an excuse but i dont want to do it all in one go and fail, would rather take it slow like i have been, i cut down on the drink 3 wks ago and started c to5k on sunday so another week or two n the fags can go too! How and when did you kick the habit? Tbh its getting so expensive- its not even worth smoking anymore haha
Well done for reaching the end of week 1. I bought myself a pair of fairly cheap new trainers by Wk1 R2 from Decathlon which had a lot of info on what shoes were for which type of running. They cost about £30 and have been fine for me to run in so far. However I am about to do Wk9 R2 and have promised myself that I will go to a proper running shop, get gait analysis and buy some proper running shoes as a reward for graduating (if all goes well) on Friday.
Good luck with keeping the anxiey gremlins at bay - my experience has been that people are impressed and wish me well as I stumble past them wheezing and red faced. Those who are runners know what it takes to get out there, and many who aren't wished they had our guts to do so. You can do this. You can do anything if you just believe in yourself and keep trying.
Keep going - we're all rooting for you. You're doing really well.
Thank you, I really appreciate your support and kind words. That sounds like a good idea to treat yourself when you graduate on Fri, you have done amazingly and are an inspiration.
I do agree that there are many people that wished they had the guts to get out there as I was one but now am proud of myself for joining the running crusade. Can't wait to be in your position and be two days away from graduating!
Schools have got a lot to answer for! Well done for you in overcoming your negative experiences and fab to learn you are enjoying your exercise. Bring on the park!
Well done for doing it! Slow down maybe, so you can focus on staying relaxed and breathing! I love running outside too and once you have done it once, and realise no one notices you, it is interesting and you can change the route and try new places! I hated PE, the teachers stayed in the gym when they sent us out for a cross country run and they didn't teach us about warming up or cooling down. I just ran til my lungs ached and my legs were red from the cold and walked back to school feeling like a failure!
Still, we know better now,mwhatever our age and have the support of like minded friends (and the wonderful Laura to cheer us on)! LOL
Yes I do love Laura's voice in my ears motivating me, whoever they chose to do that voice over is perfect for it!
I don't know if I should slow down though, I felt like I was going too slow yesterday but maybe instead of focusing on speed- I should be focusing on my breathing like you have mentioned? I find it hard to concentrate on one thing as I am thinking "hit the ground with the middle of my foot" "back straight but not too straight" "look ahead" "cross road safely" "cross road so I won't be on the same side as those people" etc etc - so many things going through my head!
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week 2 done!
Week One. Again
Completed week one!
Week two day one
Injured on week one! 😞
