I set off on w5r3 feeling very virtuous: healthy dinner last night, no alcohol (not that I drink much but there was a time...), good nights sleep (not that I can take much credit for that), watered up, and with w5r3 lined up on the my I-pod. And then, when I was far enough from home to not want to turn back, I realised that I-tunes had given me week 3 by mistake - I hadn't realised before because I had decided to do a longer warm up - and I'd registered the '3' and assumed I had the right one. So, instead of throwing a strop (hey, I can grow up!) I decided to work with what I had. I did the official 5 minute walk up and then started running, chanting 'slow, slow, slow, sow' in time. The first official run song on shuffle was 'I Hear Your Name (Incognito)' cheesy but it was playing everywhere when I was falling in love with my husband so it seemed like a good omen : Augustus Pablo (fab dub reggae - I forget who was asking about a reggae running list, but he should be on it) and Tom Waites played along - both with a good, slow, running tempo, an introduction to walking relaxation (!) was chucked in for good measure, plus learning to pronounce the letter 's' in Portuguese (I love shuffle). I kept the first half slow although it's not my natural rhythm (believe me, that's not fast but it feels right to me) and sped up a bit in the second half. I stopped to properly check my watch and realised I had another 45 odd seconds to do so I ran back up the steep (by my standards) incline I'd just come down and still had some energy left. I'm marking that as a pass!
As I type this BB King is singing 'There is always one more time'. From meandering through the posts on here it seems that discovering c25k has given people access to second chances in more ways than one. I'm one of those people. On easter Saturday 1993 I was a front seat passenger in a high speed, high impact car crash - luckily on an empty Scottish road because quantities of alcohol were involved and had any one else been harmed I'm not sure I'd be writing this. I was lucky - I was training to be a mental health nurse at the time and on one of my placements met a wonderful, holistic, physio called Mick who taught me to become an expert in my own body. Despite that, 23 years later, I still think of myself as on an upward trajectory and this is the latest part of the journey. Running rocks.
Written by
pollyp1
Graduate
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Well done Pol! Keep up this momentum. Slow is just fine. I like your music choices😊 love a bit or raggae, ska and all that genre. I run to Tom Waites, eg slowly, to Saturday Night. Very mellow so you don't feel tempted to speed up. I like Downtown train but I have Rod's version as well, which I love. Love BB too and I have When love comes to town and the thrill is gone. Shouldn't you be listening to Laura's words of wisdom though?
I think events in life do make us change our view, perspective or direction but hopefully we can get things back on an even keel and change things for the better. I used to be a boozer til I realised it was making me Ill and fat!
Running to music is so simple, but more fun in it than we could have ever thought possible 😊 Take care though, slowly, slowly ☺
Thanks...Listening to Laura was the plan (hence the title!) but realised I'd loaded the wrong podcast... I shall be more vigilant on Monday! I do like a bit of Mr. Stewart - it wasn't until I listened to his greatest hits in one sitting recently that I realised what a strong celtic influence there was. It was the accident that made me fat - although there is an indirect link. I started cleaning up my act when my memory, which I was always really proud of, started going (at the tender age of 31!). One of the glories of c25k is that it does help people go in different directions; I read something recently that said you are unlikely to be disciplined in one area of your life and undisciplined in another and it really struck a chord with me. Have a good week-end.
Off to watch the Aviva womens cycle race roll into town now. Having to catch the flippin bus as my leg is still giving me hell 😕 That's because I overdid things again. Take note ☺
Changing ourselves rarely happens overnight does it Polly? It can as you say, be quite a journey but you sound as though you are in a far happier place now. I think I am most surprised by how it is never too late for any of us to change who we are and how we feel about ourselves, and that is really evident reading the posts on this forum. Lots of us have taken that control through running. I think that's why this forum is such a positive and happy place!
I totally agree. I think of myself as the poster girl (woman) for the new old age (whatever that is, these days). And yes, thanks, I generally live in a happy place! It was an interesting look back - I don't do it often these days but I still remember how I felt barely being able to walk so running for a full 20 mins has been quite emotional.
Great to hear your story. It does make you wonder why the whole world isn't made to follow this running programme, doesn't it, 'cos it's about so much more than running.
I daren't use shuffle - for reasons too long and tedious to go into now, we have the two minutes silence at the cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday on our i-Tunes list. Not sure I really want to or even ought to run to that and it would be just my luck!
That's an interesting quandary (shuffle)! The ex mental health nurse in me thinks that all you can do is put it (c25k) out there and people will find it when they're ready. I'd known about it for months before I started but a number of things happened in quick succession (I read a couple of articles that both pointed to research that showed running was beneficial and not harmful to joints / my friend, who is the same age as me, ran a half marathon and she started with this program / I was walking in the local woods on a very rainy and particularly difficult day [again with the too long and boring for here!] when I realised the man in front of me was jogging in almost the same clothes as me - jeans, heavy trainers and a mac - and I thought 'if he can do it so can I' and just went for it, counting off the seconds in my head); which led me to Laura. But, yes, like giving blood and composting I think that every one should do it (somewhere along the way), if they can.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
xxx
Watch out snails, I'm catching you up. W7R1
W5R3
It's True - A Bad Run is Followed by a Good One!
W7R1 - What a struggle!
Finally - after 10 days and 5 attempts, Week 5 done! 
