No, not a massive weight loss, that's still a struggle for some freaky reason, but my times show how much I've improved!
Over the past few months I've been slowly working through the plan, repeating each week at least twice to get more used to it. I'm not worried about completing the plan in 9 weeks, so it's all good.
I did have to stop a couple of times, most recently for a couple of weeks as I pulled a muscle in my leg so I rested it to heal and now it's fine.
To get back into the running though, I decided to do one run from each week as a mini version of the plan. This let me reacclimatise myself back to where I'd reached, which was week 6 run 3.
Interstingly, I compared my times to the other times I'd done the same run and was amazed at the difference in some of them, so I thought I'd share them to help show how much effect it has on us, especially if you're new!
The are all comparisons to my "best" times
Week 1 original - 4KM - 30:28
Week 1 re-run - 4KM - 29:24
Week 2 original - 4KM - 32:14
Week 2 re-run - 4KM = 31:16
Week 3 original - 4KM - 31:46
Week 3 re-run - 4KM - 30:35
Week 4 I stepped up my distance to 5KM
Week 4 original - 5KM - 37:08
Week 4 re-run - 5KM - 36:08
Week 5 run 2 original - 5KM - 37:22
Week 5 run 2 re-run - 5KM - 36:38
Week 5 run 3 original - 5KM - 36:05
Week 5 run 3 re-run - 5KM - 34:19
I know that the time you finish in isn't the most important thing, actually finishing it is what really matters, getting out there and actually doing it is far more important, but I found these times both fascinating and inspiring! It showed that not am I actually managing to finish these runs, I'm actually making big leaps in how well I'm doing them! As well as beating all my old times, I'm finding I'm not as knackered at the end of the run, I'm recovering faster after each run and I don't ache quite as much as I did the next morning either
So if you're ever feeling like you're struggling, compare how you are doing now to how you did when you first tried this and then feel proud of your acheivements! I know I do!