Yes, exactly one year ago I was thinking that I would give this Couch to 5K thing a bit of a go. I'd downloaded them because they were near the top of the Podcast Charts in iTunes several months earlier, but other than one half-hearted attempt that was somewhat pointless as I'd forgotten that I tend to listen to podcasts at 1.5x speed (meaning 40 second runs!) that I'd never done again, I hadn't thought I would seriously do it.
Being on the large side (I was just under 20 stone at the time) and feeling self-conscious, I decided against going outside. I had no treadmill. What I did instead was open the doors downstairs, and there was a sort of circuit - going through the lounge, hallway, kitchen, dining room and back, with the option of doing a figure of 8. Nervously I loaded up Week 1, and off I set....
The dog was intrigued. He set off in pursuit of me; was this some sort of new game? Discovering that I wasn't actually holding one of his toys, instead he settled down to watch in bewilderment as I circled round and round, occasionally changing direction as I discovered that after a while I was getting seriously dizzy! It felt like a long time before I reached the end of the running, I was blowing a bit, but also realising that I would have to find an alternative - I'd lost count of the number of laps of the house I'd made, and having to avoid dog, doorhandles and the slipperiness of the kitchen floor made it a real challenge.... Next time, I'd decided, I'd risk the canal.
A year later.... I now weigh just over 17 stone - mainly through better eating habits; I can run 5K in about 33 minutes, and am working on bridging to 10K; I enjoy the running for the sake of it, rather than finding it a trial; and I've gradually acquired various paraphernalia - proper Running Shoes, another identical pair for when they wear out, running tops, tights, trail running shoes, running jacket, a subscription to a Running App....
Twelve months ago this would have seemed like fantasy. Now it's reality. And I wouldn't change it for anything.....
Huge congratulations... !
Happy New Year (nearly my runniversary)
Ju Ju's runniversary is today!!🍸🍭
Runniversary & hot carrots!
Seven year runniversary
A very wet second runniversary!
