Can't believe I did it

[jogon66]

Only W1R1 but did it. Touch and go at one point though. Aiming for a 5k before I'm 50 later this year. Hope I haven't left it too late.

[SCGUK Graduate]

Not at all... Well done for starting.

[jogon66 in reply to SCGUK]

Thank you.

[Vanessa291 Graduate]

Well done on getting started, great forum of very knowledgeable peeps for support and advice here. Looking forward to more posts from you as you tick off each run off.

[jogon66 in reply to Vanessa291]

Thanks - love the forum already. Certainly a source of inspiration.

[pollyp1 Graduate]

Absolutely not, I'm nearly 56. Well done for getting out there.

[jogon66 in reply to pollyp1]

Thanks pollyp. Will keep plodding on.

[pollyp1 Graduate in reply to jogon66]

That's the way it's done!

[Cianalas]

I'm 49 and really pleased with how quickly I'm building fitness, having never run before this. Trust the programme and you will manage your 5k.

[jogon66 in reply to Cianalas]

Thanks. I've never really run since school but the programme seems steady.

[cybermat64 Graduate]

Well done. Not too late I started at 52 and struggled through week 1 but kept going slowly and have now managed to run 5K.

[Sofargoner Graduate]

Well done. I'm only a week ahead. At this moment I'm filled with dread at the thought of running for 20 mins but I believe the people who are saying trust the programme, it works. It's a faith thing, just keep putting one foot in front of the other, listen to Laura, don't look too far ahead to worry about week 9 and I do believe you will do it and I will do it. Cheering you on too.

[McFitty Graduate]

It's never, never, never too late The success stories on this forum from people of all ages, shapes, sizes and backgrounds, is testament to that! Go you for starting. That's the hardest bit. Follow the programme, come here for chats, inspiration and support and you'll be running in a way you never believed possible before you know it

[Ullyrunner Graduate]

Well done for getting off the couch - you won't regret it and that 5k is definitely achievable - plenty older than you on the forum!

Keep it slow and steady, take your rest days and stretch out after your runs - helps with the stiffness.

Look forward to hearing about your progress!

[IanD62 Graduate]

never too late I am 54 never run before completed the c25k and yesterday ran 9k nearly at my goal. Just follow Laura and take in as much adv re from this forum as you can😊

[Irish-John Graduate]

Read where I started from on my W1D1 I bet you will agree I could be the guy whose photo they use under a "If HE can do it YOU sure as heck can!" Picture

The physical problems I have/had which made running the unlikeliest of things for me to do are/were very real and are outlined in other Posts of mine.

The mental reservations - well, we ALL had and have pretty much the same fears, hesitations, feelings of inadequacy etc as I bet you do.

I started this running out of boredom and frustration with walking, a fear of “dying young’ (I’m 56) because I was totally unfit, and I was fed up of feeling ugly and awkward physically.

I literally had never run more than fifty or sixty steps in my life, I could not ‘walk briskly’ without breathing very hard and I had no hope I would EVER get past W2 or 3.

It’s all in those earlier posts, and more.

Let me say at this stage that nowadays I LOVE running, I get impatient for the next ‘running day’ to dawn – it has opened a whole new world and brought me to a whole new attitude. And it’s FUN here

June 1st though. - I dang near expelled my lungs through my nose and mouth at the end of that D1W1 while it felt like I was about to suction my pants up the other end of my body simultaneously. I was bent over double and staggering along like Frankenstein on roller blades for the 5 minute cool down walk. Half of me was mortified at the thought an onlooker might be calling an ambulance for me, and the other half was wondering if I DID need an Ambulance.

That was June 1st. Yesterday - July 30th - I ran for 25 continuous minutes.

Impossible – right? However – I am telling you the truth. That ‘couch’ of mine is now hard to remember, and the person who spent most of a lifetime on it and its brethren is no more. I’m now a product of this programme and you can be too.

C25K will teach you to be a Runner. Hard – impossible more likely – to believe where you are at right now if you are like most of us here when we started, but I promise you, it does.

The 'prime directives' are simple enough -

- Trust the program (as in don't miss those rest days in your enthusiasm, don't think you can skip or omit any stage, don’t get discouraged if you have to do what we all had to – repeat stages. Not many make it in 8 or 9 weeks – it’s a somewhat arbitrary figure in reality, but it certainly will NOT take you as long as your are guessing now  )

- SLOOOOW DOWNNNNNNN when it genuinely feels like you cannot go a step further then slow down even more. It is NOT about ‘fast’ or ‘far’ it IS about building up stamina and the 5K is an arbitrary figure really. The ability to run for thirty minutes is a goal. You will learn all about this in so many posts from everyone here. Why? - because we DO tend to equate ‘run’ with ‘fast’ before we realize what is going on and that can still sabotage us now, and maybe sabotaged any previous efforts of yours to run.

Still hard to believe what I am outlining here ? Well -

Read as many posts as possible so that you understand you are NOT "terminally unique"

Read that while it won't be an "easy" ride, it is EMINENTLY doable.

See that what gets us around mentally is the support of, and supporting, the great members here.

You can get advice that will work for you on everything that you think makes it ‘impossible’ for you to EVER run for thirty consecutive minutes – because it is the same things, time after time, that at some stage or other a heck of a lot of us share, and we got through them.

We are all in this together here. We might run on our own, but we are never alone.

And the sum total of the whole Package? – it makes us happy

I hope you stick around and run with us too.

[Myrar Graduate]

Well done ..You will do it

[Myrar Graduate]

Well done ...You will do it