Total beginner! 🏃‍♀️

[Hannahsbananas86]

Hello I’m Hannah, 33 a traditional non-exerciser & ex-smoker. I quit 2 years ago but have been caught in a cycle of being a social smoker. No more. I also took up swimming over a year ago to try and increase my fitness levels, it worked but now I need to up the ante. Between stopping smoking, hitting my 30’s and finding a happy relationship the weight has slowly crept on! I’m a much healthier & happier version of myself though so no regrets but now it’s time to take back my body 💪🏻 I’m on week 5 of this app and things are getting tough! Looking for some motivational chat & tips to keep me going ☺️ X

[Hannahsbananas86]

Thank you! I know it really is, I’ve been beating myself up for continuing to have the odd one when I’ve been out but it’s still better than smoking full time. But it’s been 2 years & I literally can’t do it anymore at all now though which I’m grateful for. My body rejects it straight away.

There’s no way I could have come this far with the app if I was still puffing away!

Thanks for replying good luck with your journey too.

[Blueintheface]

Hi there I have just finished week five and am not a runner so you will be fine. Slow and steady is the way to go it seems! Good luck!

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Things are getting tough for sure in week 5... but I think the toughest of them is Hannah. You’ve done well swimming and non smoking (or social only) and this is just another thing you’ll do well at. You got this... enjoy the second half of the plan.

[CaffeineBomb Graduate]

It's funny but week 5 was a total game-changer for me. Before that point, for each run my mindset was "I can always give up, after all I'm not a runner." Then I reached week 5 and ran continuously for 20 minutes... and it hit me that I was actually a runner. After that there was no stopping me! I graduated in October and have been running three days a week ever since. Amazing how much of this programme is about mental strength as well as physical. You've already demonstrated you've got the willpower (congrats on quitting smoking by the way, it's not easy!) so I have no doubt you'll see this through. Good luck and keep us posted

[E27M14 Graduate]

I’ve just finished week 5 and totally get how you feel, i found week 1 really hard and then the rest has just been ok, not easy but ok. Week 5 is really tough, but it’s also amazing to have completed it. Good luck, let us know how you get on.

[Mercmancouchto5k Graduate]

Hi Hannasbananas86, I also gave up smoking two years and two months ago - I remember the date because I had given up before and returned to smoking. Now I doubt I ever will. One year ago I had four stents put in my arteries - one side blood supply was 100% blocked and the other side nearly 90% blocked. I had a bad 2018. In August I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and that is when I really decided that if I don't take this by the horns, I would not be around for much longer. All my life, I had eaten exactly what I wanted to without becoming overweight. But the diabetes was the nail in the coffin. I saw the dietitian and made a spreadsheet to measure every meal I ate (calories and carbohydrates) and with the blessing of my GP started the couch25k. Later today I will do my graduation run after 5 days rest and having overdone it on New Year's Eve (17,400 steps or 14.3 km total activity).

I give you this example of someone 30 years your senior in the hope that you will get past week 5 (whether on the first or subsequent attempts) and be similarly amazed at how you could possibly jog for 20 minutes, let alone the one minute you started with five weeks ago. Go for it Hanna - you can do anything you put your mind to, and there are thousands of us here on this forum cheering you on. Have a great 2019

[Hannahsbananas86 in reply to Mercmancouchto5k]

Thank you so much for sharing your story with me. And well done for taking back control of your life and body, that’s really quite an incredible achievement! Inspiring!

It sounds like 2019 is going to be a much better year for you. Wishing you lots of health & happiness going forward ☺️

[Mercmancouchto5k Graduate in reply to Hannahsbananas86]

Thank you Hannasbananas. I was thinking of you when I was tucking into my banana 1/2 an hour ago after my graduation run. Tee hee hee