I havenโt posted here in a while but thought this may amuse/help some of you starting out on your own C25K journey. As background, I started in April '17 (age 56) and graduated in June '17. Since then Iโve kept running (including three half marathons). I remember reading posts like this and thinking โฆ. yes, fine โฆ. but I canโt do that โฆ theyโre different ... they may not have run before but they obviously like exercise, probably already go to the gym regularly โฆ.. but theyโre not like me ... I was most definitely exercise averse, cardiophobic, a committed sofa-dweller ๐คฆโโ๏ธ.
Iโd spent the last 25 years living my life through and for my lovely children (not regretting a minute of it I should add). But C25K would all be down to me. Eek! Not likely to happen. No way did I didnโt think Iโd get to week 9, let alone go on to run further AND still be running two and a half years later! As for loving it? Whoโd have thought that was even a thing
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Anyway, this week I was out with a good friend of many years. She started C25K after I told her I was doing it and she too is still running. Weโre eating a good dinner and demolishing a bottle of prosecco while talking running (as you do once youโve somehow become addicted) โฆ and suddenly she says, โwell, I only did it because you were doing it. If it was someone who was fit or interested in any sort of exercise, I wouldnโt have taken any notice. But you? Well, if you could do it so could I!โ
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๐ Errr? Whatttt??? ๐ Thatโs a bit insulting โฆ but sheโs right! Not even my best of friends would ever have thought Iโd be where I am today (a self-confessed addict to this running malarkey). But I am. And it has changed my life for the better in so, so many ways. And itโs very possible you could find the same thing happens to you, however unlikely that may seem right now; yes really it might ๐
Iโm currently doing C25K for the second time, coming back after a long period of injury. Iโve enjoyed every single run this time โ even the ones that have been hard or painful. But I certainly didnโt feel that way first-time round; there are so many things I know now that I wish I'd known then. Iโll try to gather some of those thoughts and post a series of reflections on C25K second time around, just in case they may help someone else starting out ๐
In the meantime, if there was just one thing I could tell you it would be โDITCH THE FEARโ. Set out to enjoy what youโre doing, safe in the knowledge that it's one of the best things you could do for yourself. Iโm SO glad I stepped out of my comfort zone for W1R1.
Good luck on your running journey. Happy running and be sure to tell us all about it.
Written by
linda9389
Graduate
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I too thought that running was going to be a necessary chore and a lesser evil than going to the gym, simply to try to prevent the seemingly inevitable loss of stamina associated with ageing..........no way was I going to get addicted.
Congratulations on your achievemnets and enjoy all thos ewonderful benefits of running........keep running, keep smiling.
I have a similar story - a friend who was a lapsed sporty type who took it up again because I was doing it. She subsequently credits me with helping her pass the fitness tests to become a police special in her 50s๐ It still amazes me that I might inspire anybody towards sporty pursuits........
PS April 2017 was a good month for couch potatoes - Iโm still running too, but decided I was bonkers as I ran a very soggy Parkrun this morning!
Wow, what an amazing thing to have inspired and changed life for your friend so positively I volunteered at a soggy parkrun this morning but next week I hope to run it again for the first time since first week of January!!!
Well done linda. Posts like these are so inspiring to those who have just started the programme . Iโm glad to hear that your recovery is coming along nicely. ๐โโ๏ธ๐๐
What a lovely post, so encouraging, thank you! I'm on week 3 now and I still don't believe that I am doing this for real. And there is still that little voice saying ... yes, fine, linda9389 can do it, but she's not like me ... surely she has much more stamina than I have ... But I must admit that I really seem to begin to ... like running ?!? ๐ณ
Don't listen to that voice! That's just coming from someone who doesn't know what they're talking about ๐คฃ. If you like it now ... even just a tiny bit ... you're going to LOVE it by the time you graduate - I will watch for your graduation post
I had the same experience but in my story I was the friend looking at my friend going well geez you just ran a HM and you call yourself a non-runner so why can't I? After a few failed attempts on my own to start running, I came across this lovely program and then found the forum as I got to W5r3 and, like everyone, thought this can't be right ๐ฐ. And here I am, still running years later. This has got to be the best programme to get runners and non-runners alike into this amazing addiction we call running ๐
This a great post! Itโs inspiring and humorous! And your so right about getting rid of the fear. The fear uses up so much energy. Happy running to you too! ๐๐ปโโ๏ธ๐
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