I have just yesterday completed week three of Couch to 5K, although I think I will stay with it for another week before moving onto week four. I don't feel ready yet to go further, although I was very happy to achieve a three minute run, it was as much as I could do and the relief at the end was wonderful. And it's ok. Laura does not know how many times I do this, and she seems very nice, so I think she will not mind.
So I have run for 12 sessions so far, because I did week one twice also. This is what I have learned and noticed. My recovery time has improved dramatically, even though I am ready for collapse at the end, the advice to keep walking to warm down after is essential, I think we don't instantly stiffen up because of this.
My legs don't ache anymore, and I no longer have a stitch. My chest hurts a bit but that's the effort of breathing with asthma. It's interesting that most of my life my asthma was well managed with preventative inhalers, so well that I forgot about it! Sometimes when cycling up steep hills, and when exposed to cold, damp air, yes, I felt it, but in the main I never did anything so fast and strenuous as this running kerfuffle . 
. Even performing on drums for decades never triggered any breathing issues. So, it must be my legs carrying the weight of even my slim body. The ache moved up to my lower back. Right now it is just below my knees, and I have developed a chesty cough. Well, I am still smoking, hand rolled with filters, outdoors only. Please don't tell me to stop just yet... like coffee, I really really need it and I have had too many hammer blows in the past year, I am still looking for balance and peace . .
My knees ache, or just below the knee, when I am walking. It is not terrible at all and fades away the next day. It makes me think of my shin bones banging on my knees... I am not so worried about that yet. Let's see how it goes.
Your comments and advice are brilliant though! I am thrilled and grateful, so Thank You!
On January 12th I returned to Estonia where I have been living for the past two and a half years. First of all the same urban issues - crossings, roads, cyclists, all kinds of rhythm breaking obstacles, even though there is hardly anybody here, you can be sure they are going to appear when I am running. The biggest change, however, is the air quality.. Compared with england, it's very clean and pure, and it is not so damp, but it's dry and cold. At two degrees, it is a physical blow to the face. But I am lucky. It may well be climate change, but normally around now it is minus 15, or even lower, with heavy snowfall right around until March. This year that has not happened, no snow, so it is darker, but it is runnable.
I discovered that I definitely need to cover my mouth and even nose. Nose breathing is out of the question, even with a giant conk like mine! I am gasping like a stranded fish, even though it is improving and I am finding a more sustainable pace. So I wear a wonderful neck warming thing called a Buff, which stops the wind and stretches even up to the eyes if needed, and they look quite elegant too. But then, somehow the warm air from my mouth mists up my glasses. It's one bloody thing after another!
Ok, so glasses go in pocket, but then I can't see much. It is such a struggle, along with the solitude here - other people here do not speak, do not smile. There are no "good morning", "keep going, you are doing fine". It's the nordic culture, inscrutable and hard to read. It's like being in an aquarium with cold fish drifting by... but I do miss a friendly warm greeting.... OK - this is character building stuff. I am back at school, on the sports field, 7, 8, 9, 13 years old, the slowest, weakest, blindest kid, yelled at even by the oafish teachers. I am fighting and struggling to do something, anything to avoid this daily abuse, this ridicule. School gave me a contempt for authority and a hatred of team sports that has lasted a lifetime.
So.... I remember there is a sports stadium near my flat. And the silent estonians will not laugh or sneer or shout. There is value in that. The stadium (for those of you who might know it, it is Tamme Stadion in Tartu) is deserted most days, maybe some solitary walkers, and some young mothers with their children. I saw one girl with a toddler, and she was teaching him to play ping pong. That was beautiful. But she didnt speak and I am by now running around the track with Laura in my ears. This is perfect because I don't have to see well to find my way around it.
I am now riding my bike to the Stadium as well, and I notice that this uses a different set of muscles entirely, more the upper thighs. There are no hills here so its easy.
So this is where I am, in the programme as well as geographically. Tomorrow, Saturday is my next week three run. I hope it doesn't get colder soon because that may put everything on hold. Thanks for reading, if you still are and Good Luck to all of You .
I had the same feeling actually, how to write about this activity of putting one foot in front of the other and make it interesting, share it with others. Connection and sharing are important and even vital. I think the stadium I found is good because I don't have to worry about obstacles, crossings and other people. Maintaining the pace, and even more so, not tensing up, is a great help. I won't be staying here much longer, but location is one of many factors I think. I would find it hard in a gym, too many perfect, beautiful younger people . 
How far am I actually running?
Feeling disappointed - so close and yet so far.
Why am I finding these consolidation runs so difficult?
Wk 7 run 1 - the hardest so far...
Best run so far! 🏃♀️ CR 9
