Hi everyone I have been lurking here for a while, well the last five weeks, but finally feel like joining you all. I have a slightly strange life, with two very different parts of it. Around 20 weeks of the year I live and work in the UK, four to six weeks at a time, working in a residential school. The rest of the time I live in a tiny mountain village in Bulgaria. The contrast between hectic, six days a week, long hours in a very noisy English language school and the total peace and lazy long days in my village is extreme. This last contract I found out about the c25k program, as my line manager was half way through it. I am five stone overweight, 59, and with an arthritic hip, and convinced all my adult life that exercise was not for me. But I started it. First week nearly killed me, third week invested in clothes and new shoes, fifth week became confident about passing strangers on my way, smiling and waving. I found a nice country path route behind the school, 2 miles door to door, and got a huge buzz from each run achieved.
But I knew that in week six, I would go back home to the lazy half of my life and worried how I would manage there. Got back here on Sunday, Monday tried to run on the village sheep paths. OMG, slopes and loose stones, thorny bushes, and by the way, it is 1000 meters up a mountain. Today was W6R3. So I took myself down early to the local town of Gotse Delchev, and went to the park. It is a delightful place, lots of small shady paths, lots to look at and think about. I have had a bad two nights with a dry cough and not a lot of sleep, (usual to be a bit ill when I come home from work, body trying to recover from lost of sleep and stress of being a house parent to 67 teenage girls). At around 17 minutes in I past a Bulgarian pensioner, who waved his walking stick in the air, and called (in Bulgarian) 'Just like that, just like that, DO IT!'. This put a grin on my face which carried me the remaining six minutes. Going to explore to find a better path near home, and maybe treat myself to a massage and soak at the local hot springs. Anyway I just wanted to say thank you to all the posters here, you answered so many of my questions without me having to ask them, and I have felt supported by knowing so many others were going through the same thing (especially the end of week five). So hi from a fat but jogging English woman in Bulgaria.
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bulgarianlily
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My wife is 61 and is on w4r3, gets painful knees sometimes but not had much of a problem with that while running, she also gets sciatica, but has had no pain from that while doing the running, so although early days still, running appears to be highly beneficial..😊
Welcome to the fray, and kudos for you progress! I loved the image of your old guy shouting encouragement. I often pass an old guy who sits on the wall in our (French) village, and he waves his stick in the air and grins at me as I puff by, too. Keep posting, and breathe in a bit of mountain air for me please
Wow, sounds like you're doing amazingly! I hope the search for a route closer to home is fruitful, although I would quite like to hear more tales of the brilliant bulgarian pensioner!
I have been known to run in Bulgaria........nearer the North Black Sea coast, two visits a year usually (not enough!) more just flat long roads that go on for miles (apart from the pot holes). Haven't tried any 'black' roads yet though.
I agree with all those who said what a great post! Thankyou so much for sharing - I look forward to reading more of your posts, and well done for persisting with the running
What an interesting life you lead Lily! Your Bulgarian village sounds fab. Imagine what a runner you'll be when you can manage those mountains - a real anglo-bulgarian mountain goat. I am envious but your work-phases in the UK sound like very hard work.
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