Around week 6 of c25k some kind soul posted the film of the Japanese slow jogging movement
m.youtube.com/watch?v=9L2b2...
I was already running slowly, it was the only way for me to progress as the durations increased. My first breakthrough was realising my run could be slower than my brisk walk, but the Japanese slow jogging low impact technique turned running from hard work to something doable, even enjoyable. It gave me that first sensation around week 8 of ‘I get this, I just might really be a runner!’
I’ve posted about my 6 weeks of consolidation runs, and then adding 5 minutes to one of my weekly runs, finally running 5k, and building to yesterday’s 50 minute run. It felt good, engrossed in a podcast, occasionally checking my technique, and really enjoying the slow and steady running - and a distance of nearly 6k!
21 weeks into this amazing journey, still marvelling at the blooming miracle that is c25k, it’s good to look back at the difference to how I feel. I started, like a lot of us here, just really needing to do something - anything - about being so unfit, and after a decade of slowly gaining weight, just wanting to change, but had never considered that I could be a runner, and sort of felt this would be another attempt at exercise that would last 3 weeks and then dwindle to nothing. But the miracle of c25k is the constantly being staggered at my progress, the thrill of achieveing durations I thought impossible, and feeling and seeing the results pretty quickly - better lung capacity, the bright red face becoming less like a distress flare, inch loss and then an amazing feeling - becoming stronger.
I’ve lost some weight (which I feel I’ve run off which feels great), and I feel strong, and that feeling of strength just feels so good. The changes to the body that regular running causes - muscle building, making more bone cells, creating more blood capillaries to get that oxygen flowing to the muscles more efficiently, not to mention the endorphins and benefits to mental wellbeing - I can feel it all in simply feeling stronger. I feel fitter, and I’ll be interested to see when I think of myself as actually fit! After my 50 minute run yesterday, I had to get out of the house and on the road in 20 minutes - at the start of this I’d have to lie down for an hour after completing a run!
I’m going to consolidate that 50 minute run, along with 2x30 for quite a few weeks (because blimey 50 minutes!!). And just enjoy this amazing transformation and the pleasures of running.
So to all you newbies, and those at the mid point (which can be a struggle), and to those nearing graduation - keep going it’s amazing, and if you need to - slow down - you too can run the nico nico (Japanese for smile) way!
Happy running y’all!! x
Japanese Slow Jogging
How slow is slow - Japanese slow running technique?
First 5k+ run
