Hi all! I’ve just started Couch to 5K (after spending a lot of money on running gear during lockdown and not using it!)
It’s great to see such a thriving community on here. I was wondering if any of you who are a lot further on that me have any words of wisdom/pieces of advice to keep me going?
Weirdly, anxiety around other people seeing me run is a big problem I have. Whenever I start a run and bump into someone walking their dog or something I have to spin around and go the other way! Anyone else have this?
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SunkenTreasure
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I agree with IN57 I am the same I would hate to see my friends see me puffing along at my slow pace but I am obese and turn 57 yesterday I am amazed I have got to week 5 and able to do it.
The community are so good just reading the progress is great encouragement to keep going I do try not read the posts that are about the runs as I thought I could never do it.
This program is so good at pacing you through each stage.
When you see people just smile they could be out walking to sort there own thoughts too.
Hi, well done for getting out and using your lovely running gear 😀. I used to be scared I see someone as I am very fair skinned and go a lovely shade of tomato 🍅 after exertion!! However, I now don’t care as I feel proud to be seen running. It’s such a difficult thing to master and I’ve never been able to do it so the fact I’ve got to week 6 is so amazing to me, I don’t care what people think of what I look like anymore 😂. Seriously, I wouldn’t even give it a second thought, you’ll be past them in a jiffy, just wave and move on.
Good luck on your journey, it’s such a great programme - if I can do it, anyone can! 💪
Having grown up extremely self-conscious, I say try really hard to ignore these worries. Being older now (just turned 60), I am more confident in some ways but perhaps less in others. But it can vary day to day. The more you get out there and run, the less you will worry. People are really not interested. Have uplifting music and focus on your breathing, your foot placement and the terrain - they need your focus, not how you look to others. Obviously with Covid you will want to avoid others, but try not to ‘run away’ from people. Best of luck and well done for starting 👍
What you might not realise is that runners are pretty much invisible to non-runners. The more garish the outfit the more invisible you are.
That and once you're doing it you really won't give a flying flamingo (to quote a past Speaker of the House) about what anyone else thinks about you.
The other advice is that this is not a sprint but a jog. Slow running is good.
And finally, it's normal for the first runs to feel hard. Your body's not used to it. But if you're getting really out of breath, you're probably trying to run too fast.
Welcome! Everyone seems to start the programme with their own hangs up and/or issues, often part of the reason for arriving here at the first place.
Read up on the admin links, it’s invaluable info to prepare you for what’s ahead.
You’ll hear this constantly but don’t consider it a cheesy cliche - trust in the programme - it works!
Most importantly, keep faith in yourself, and us, your fellow running crew, are here to help whenever you have questions. A lot of people including myself find it helps to post to the forum after every single run. Some sessions will go really well, others not so well. And that’s ok, it’s all part of the journey to help you become a runner.
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