I have social anxiety and it's not the running that scares me, it's more the fact that I think people will be watching me, it sounds silly, I know.
I'm actually looking forwards to doing my Saturday morning run around my local harbour.
Any tips to not feel so anxious?
Yep 
Nobody will know if you have just ran ten yards or 100 miles. So don't worry about appearing 'fit'
Nobody who runs or even exercises in any way will judge you - they will emphasis with you and be silently cheering you on.
If an Eskimo ran across my lawn - at worst I would only say 'Where did the Eskimo come from?" However - if I start any smirking or laughing at the Eskimo it just means I am ignorant - and also scared because I feel threatened somehow. ANYBODY who smirks or gets snide with a Runner is doing so because they are being reminded of their own slobitude and general unhealthiness ( plus they are SOBs )
Hate to tell you the next bit - you really are not that important. Darn few will probably even know who you are depending on where you run, and those who do have already made up their mind about you anyway. Being a runner will not shake their worldview 
Last but certainly not least - instead of focusing on what 'they' might be thinking of 'you', try thinking of this - what you are really doing is trying to figure out what people think aobut you by what you think they are thinking!
And all the above is based on my own real world and personality when I started off. So - its a natural feeling to be a bit out of your comfort zone anyway when you try anything new, Social Anxiety does not help - but you can 'think around it' instead of thinking about it - and it will get ENORMOUSLY better with time.
One day it suddenly struck me that not ALL the former Smirkers in the Park where I ran could be dead...nope, they were still around to whatever degree...but they absolutely did not even register with me unless I now consciously was looking for them
Best wishes with it, world and you won't end if indeed some asshat brays like a donkey - you will still be a runner, they will still be a donkey
Wishing you all the many happy miles that await you in your future
Doesn't sound silly to me at all. What attracted me to running was the solitude aspect so to that end I actually have only ever run in the dark when the place is pretty much deserted! Maybe don't go to my extreme, but I'm thinking early on a Saturday morning you're probably going to have fewer people out than you think.
My two bits of advice are 1) that first "run" is less run than you think. It's walking and running. They've been very careful to make the running bits manageable. You'll be out of breath and going WTH, but you won't be humiliating yourself! You're going to have headphones on, which help to isolate you from people and you'll be busy listening to the instructions so you'll notice other people less than you think (also, if you're using the podcasts rather than the app, you get the added bonus of the amazing music they have on there. I think it's definitely in the "so bad, it's good... Or is it just bad?" category and you can have that endless debate with yourself for 9 weeks.)
2) Plan your route. Work out where you will feel comfortable being and then start a 5 minute walk away from it. The harbour will be great as something for you to focus on when you're doing something you find tricky (personally, I did my first runs around housing estates and saved our harbour and coastline as my "treat" for when I was doing the longer runs. Turned out to be a good idea because I really needed the variety of a completely different route at that point).
Good luck! Honestly the people aren't looking at you, although your brain says otherwise. Just make like an ostrich, if you don't make eye contact with them, they don't exist! LOL.
I didn’t do anything that you did ,
But here I am week 4 !
Just goes to prove we are not the same
Different things motivate us all
Good luck everyone 👍🏻
If you see anyone they'll probably just glance your way. Think of the last time you sat on a bench and someone ran by. Did you even notice them? Could you remember anything about them even 2 minutes later? People are so absorbed in their own lives, you're just the background scenery. Happy running, you'll do great.
You're right, I don't think I did process runners until I started Couch to 5K!
I know! And then you look at them with envy because they're running and you are not if you're driving, walking etc.
Strangely enough I think when we all start this challenge we all have hang ups ?
Today builders on roof next door they were laughing (@ me? )
Run/walk 3.3 do you know what I didn’t care .... if they were laughing @me ?
I am doing this for me !
So off I walked and enjoyed, my run /walk I didn’t care about the laughing, laugh
builders were having yet another fag break ! When I got back
🤔
You will overcome your anxiety. It took me a week of being super self-conscious and then I no longer cared. Think positive thoughts about what you're doing and why. The bit about strangers not knowing how far you have run definitely worked for me. Once you feel the benefits and that happens in week 1 surprisingly, your confidence and motivation only grows.
Even though I only have ran for 3mins
I am now in the mind set of its 3 I have ran more than you🤭
Not silly at all! I felt bery self conscious when I started, as I was not fit at all, and am in my 60's. So I thought I must look very odd. But it was fine, I had the trainer chatting to me most of the time, and I was in my own little world. Now I've reached week 4 (yay!) I don't care at all and it just seems the right thing to do. I am feeling fitter but best of all I know I can do this, I am quite sure. Might not sound much, but after several years of looking after a very ill husband, and coping with his death last year I now feel in control of what I do and also that I am doing something to keep me fit and active. So c25k has been very good for my sense of wellbeing too. Good luck!
Kudos to you. Really glad to hear it's helping so much in the process
I'd say that for perhaps half the people here starting C25K, the 'being seen' element is the biggest concern. There are lots of ways to manage it and you've had some tips but essentially I reckon it is about not fighting that feeling (it does after all stop us from doing things which might genuinely be inadvisable in public!) but accepting it. Use the tips to avoid it being an insurmountable barrier, but it is decoupling the feeling from what you *do* that is the key thing in the end.
Excellent advice!
When I first started, I was very self conscious about being seen running too. I coped by driving to a park a few miles away from where I live. Now I realise runners are just invisible to other people, and it doesn’t matter. Nobody notices me!
I prefer to run in the dark. But I’ve noticed that people have started to say hello yesterday on my 5th week. I think they must have seen me walk or run past before. But they don’t know me. They’re just saying hello to a runner. I feel proud that I’m making an effort.
Yay to the blanket of night! 
I saw an old poll on here and there's surprisingly few of us nighttime runners (or maybe there's just few of us doing polls?! 
) Week 5, you've a right to that pride!
I know that possibly whatever we say may or may not help having suffered from Anxiety myself. For me the act of running itself helps manage it. Think about how much real notice of runners you take. I have fallen over during runs, had clothing malfunctions, worn my leggings inside out and got thumbs up from homeless people. I promise you if you get out you will pleased you did.
Hi, Cherrychops (great name!). You are just another nutter in trainers for most people, honest. Ask yourself whether the occasional idiot who may make a snide comment will care if you are still sitting on the sofa in a year's time - he won't, but YOU will. You are the one who decides whether you are going to let the opinion of people you neither know nor care about shape your future and give them the satisfaction of having cowed you into giving up. Tell the anxiety where to stick it, put your EarPods in and get out there, we're all rooting for you. In a year you can be running 5k three times a week and wondering why you didn't do it earlier, or you can still be where you are now.
No one will even look at you let alone think about how you look - unless they are also runners in which case they will feel jealous of you being out for a run!
Welcome! I’m not sure I have classic social anxiety, but I’m definitely somewhere on that spectrum, so I know a little of how you feel. And having been at the start of this journey myself not so long ago, you’ll be fine. Honestly, you’ll be too busy trying to keep going at first to worry about it!
If you can, pick somewhere a little quieter to run, even if it’s round the local streets or a quiet park.
All the best to you, I hope it goes well. Will you come and let us know?
I started on Tuesday. I too feel very self conscious so get up at 6am and run round the quiet roads where I live. I know I shouldn’t care what other people think but Ive never run before (I’m 52!) and feel quite awkward physically, not knowing how to hold my arms etc. I also enjoy the solitude and there is a pleasure in being out early in the morning when other people are still in bed. Im hoping that after a few weeks when I’m feeling more comfortable with my body, I will venture further afield. My goal is to be able to run for 30 minutes, somewhere beautiful and feel great about myself. I have to say I felt better after the first attempt and with all the encouragement you get on this forum I know now that I can do it - so you can too!
Hi cherrychops! I’ve just walked (wobbled) through the door after my first ever run! I have major anxiety and it’s taken me about 3 months to get to this stage, I ran with a hood up but half way through was too hot to care, I didn’t make eye contact with anyone lol! Feel better although amazed at how unfit I am! I’m 15 st, I had a gastric bypass 6 years ago and lost 13 stone but still a way to go! I wobble more than a jelly but if I can do it anyone can! Pass me the coffee!!! Xx
Well done you!
[Doffs cap to you]
I felt exactly the same as you starting out--I waited six months to start--but as soon as I'd been out a couple of times I realised no-one cared about or even noticed me.
One thing that helped right at the beginning was having Michael Johnson in my ears, he's got such a reassuring yet authoritative voice you really feel you have permission. You're out and about with one of the greatest Olympic athletes! What's everyone else's excuse?
But once you get going you'll be sealed in a little bubble of music and your mentor and so involved in following the programme you really won't be bothered by anything.
Really envy you having a harbour to run round. Running by water is the best.
Hi, I have social anxiety too so I know what you mean but I don't want it to rule my life so I put on a baseball cap pulled down so no-one could see me properly, stuck headphones on with music playing, found some fields to run round so that I didn't have to be near any busy roads, and went for it. I've met a few dog walkers, other runners and cyclists but no-one, as far as I can tell, has even been particularly interested. People are mostly wrapped up in their own heads. I've been doing it for a while and it does get easier and you get a double sense of achievement - you can run and you've beaten back the social anxiety!
We all think exactly the same. We are afraid that people will look at us and laugh because we clearly do not know what we are doing. Forget about them - you will be running 20 to 30 minutes non stop in no time at all and we will all be here cheering you on! Good luck - you can do it!
Starting C25K tomorrow!
Starting out tomorrow... 😬😬
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