Having lost a couple of stone, I was looking for some form of exercise. Someone mentioned Couch to 5k so I decided to give it a go.
I started C25K in February 2018 and those first runs of one minute we’re so tough! Each week I ran on a Tuesday and Thursday and then did the final run of the week within parkrun. I’ve never been a runner, always struggling to get my breathing sorted, but once I’d got through the 5-8 minute intervals, that seemed to settle down. W5R3 was a real turning point for me - I couldn’t believe I could run for a whole 20 minutes! By week 7 I could manage the parkrun non-stop in a slow but steady 35 minutes. I plodded through the runs, never looking at my pace - slowing down as the runs got longer. In April 2018 I graduated - I was so proud of myself! Also, I’d entered the parkrun community and met a whole new bunch of friends!
So what next? I liked the structure of C25K, so I hopped straight over to the bridge to 10k forum to start Ju-Ju-‘s plan. However, in week 1 I got to 6k, week 2 took me to 7.5k and by week 3 I had done 10k in 1 hour 18 minutes. Probably not advisable to up that fast (stick to the 10% rule) but I felt I could keep plodding on. On the contrary, it took a fair few weeks of consolidation to feel comfortable (well kind of) doing that distance.
Now I’d started to get bored of running alone. That’s when, whilst at my first 5k race, I met a lovely lady from a local running club. I joined in August and absolutely loved it! Such great support and I loved the social aspect of it. I immediately had dozens of new friends - but you start to see the amazing distances all of these crazy running people do regularly! Even a few ultra runners who do 50, 80, 110 miles! So many people had done a half marathon - and that’s what I decided I’d do next!
So in September, (by now I’d lost over 4 stone) I started to build up gradually, with one of my new friends from club. I hopped over to the marathon forum! By October, my parkrun time was sub 30 and by January this year I had done my first half marathon distance. Why stop there? I then did three 15 mile runs and one 17 mile. I’ve recently got my first sub 1 hour 10k (58:54 I think) and my 5k is sub 28 minutes now. My first official half marathon was a couple of weeks ago - Liverpool Rock ‘n’ Roll. It was fab and I was an emotional wreck at the end - I pushed myself and it was a tough course - hills at the start and strong winds along the Mersey at the end. I was pleased to finish in 2:17. Five of us ran together and crossed the line hand in hand. That’s the photo - I’m second from the left.
Now - well at age 44, with 65 parkruns under my belt, my marathon training starts on Tuesday 😱 I’m (hopefully) doing the Yorkshire marathon in October. 18 months since graduation! Scary stuff!
So I guess what I’m saying is - believe in yourself. Running is tough but extremely rewarding regardless of your pace. I’ve run 3 times a week since week 1 of Couch to 5k and, if you commit to it, you can achieve amazing things! (Oh and I’ve not needed anxiety medication or an inhaler since week 2)
This will be on my 26.2 tattoo I will hopefully get (🤣)
“She believed she could so she did.”
Beyond C25K - the Stepping Stone run
C25K and my progression
My first runniversary - encouragement for new C25Kers
my story- in brief
C25k is my running club
