Hello from almost the end :)

[sadhanagopal]

HI All

I am new here and have just spent a week lurking and reading up on all the great, wonderful, funny posts here.

About me: 36 year old mom of 2. Have always been overweight and quietly slipped into obesity witout even noticing a couple

of years ago. With my Indian genes and family diabetes history this did not bode well for me and I became prediabetic. But of course, none of these things bothered me till a casual remark by a friend and my daughter on the same day about how 'fat' I was. I started tracking what I ate and taking a few walks around the neighborhood as the weather got better.

I have never been an athletic person. I always avoided sports and gym in school and buried my nose in books instead. But somehow, I have always fancied being a runner even though I have not run a single day in my life. So a few weeks ago, when I was walking for a couple of months already, I tried doing the c25k program. I ran week2 straightaway to see if I could do it. To my surprise, I found that quite easy so started at week 3. Of course, since I have never run before, this was probably not a good strategy as I continue to struggle with my pace and the fastest I am able to run at the end of week 8 is 9 min/km.

But, all this aside, the fact is 'I AM RUNNING'! For a straight 28 minutes. And because I am such an OCD personality and need a plan for everything, I signed up for my first 5k with one week to go in the program still.

Right now, it takes me about 45 minutes to finsh the 5k. It doesn't matter. What matters is that I am running! My First Official Race!

I am so excited...life is beautiful! Oh, and needless to say, if I can do this, truly anyone can do it

[Sandraj39 Graduate]

Lovely post - so inspiring to hear of the really positive changes you have made! This programme is a real life- saver. Good luck with completing the programme (so nearly there!) and your 5k race - some very special moments heading your way soon!😀

[sadhanagopal Graduate in reply to Sandraj39]

Thank you so much!

[JaySeeSkinny Graduate]

Well done for doing something about it. And finding something which is fun and sustainable! All the older graduates on here are super fit - so we all have something to aim for. Enjoy your race!

[Indizulu Graduate]

Love it - thanks for sharing your story so far , really gives hope to me . I can relate totally to all you describe about your life before this ( Indian too! ) although I have a decade on you , so well done you for making these changes when you're still so young. I'm on Week 5 run 2 next - scared but excited too.. Best of luck to you for your race !

[secan Graduate]

Oh, but you are wrong; that's not "almost the end", that's "just the beginning". You have a great, satisfying, long running future in front of you. 😉

Well done and keep having fun!

[PippiRuns]

Well done! It amazes and inspires me every time I hear one of the stories in here about how people have changed their lives starting with a quite simple running programme.