A tale of perseverance

It has quite a while since I posted to C25K, so I thought i'd put some words down that hopefully may help when the motivation or mojo is lacking and self doubts creep in etc.

I won't bore you all the in's and out's I shall try to keep it brief lol

I started my running journey way back in 2014 graduated in the 9 weeks, not bad for an ex smoker of 40 odd years hmmmm . I progressed to park run and was a regular until a knee injury stopped me, mainly down to trying to do to much to soon, important lesson there! Managed to crack the sub 30 5K in the process .

Had physio which was a godsend and slowly built back up to running 5k and then onto 10k, eventually entering and completing a local 10k race . My best for 10k was in a training run at about 1hr 6min.. No Mo Farah here.

Again injury niggles, work stresses and self doubt struck but again I plugged away , wasn't sure really what direction I wanted my running to go in but carried on just doing shorter runs with the odd 5K thrown in ..this kind of carried on for a couple of years , struggling but still doing it .

Next I retired from work so then took the opportunity to knuckle down, I started to build up again doing varying runs, longer slow, intervals and the ever faithful 5k to keep me honest. I started to do more strength and core exercises and invested in a kettlebell. Then bingo sciatica struck oh boy was that the worst thing ever, that took a good 2 - 3 months to get Sorted to the point of returning to running, at this point I was really questioning should I be running, yes was the answer I gave.

Then of all things Covid came but for my running a blessing in disguise, I was now running 5 days a week again anything from 3 to 8 miles and exercising 3 days a week and feeling pretty good all round so much so that from March this year I now have a new 5k time of 30min 1sec, yup 1 pesky second away from a 30min 5K again , also a new 10K time of 1hour 4min. . Not hugely fast but immensely satisfying taking everything into account along the way . The way my running is going that woK time could come down to 1 hour 2 min all being well .

So there you go, don't despair, don't give up, stick with it and build up gradually, do some core and strength work and mostly enjoy it..

Running isnt the answer to everything but its not far off 😊

[useitorloseit Graduate]

Hi Rob. I was in your cohort, and have had, it seems, as many ups and downs as you! I was doing fine, then had a move to Wales in 2018 which involved 2 house moves, discovered that nowhere in Wales is flat (a big thing, having come from Cambs near you!), and then the world went super crazy. The move was to be closer to my parents in Chester. Dad had dementia and mum was his carer, and getting frailer by the day. Almost as soon as we moved, we realised she had dementia too, and it was rapidly advancing. This was exacerbated by a stroke, which totally pushed her over the edge. So then we had to find an emergency care home for dad, and then one for mum. Dad died in October last year, which involved a 2 week 24/7 bedside vigil in hospital, but I still carried on running as much as the hills would allow after that. Then Christmas came, and then covid, and lambing (fantastic fun but hard work), and running ... STOPPED!

So, having not run since Christmas, I have recently started again right from the beginning. Unfortunately, my MS has just decided to make itself known again, and I'm wobbly and fatigued, so having got to week 5, I'm now having to go back to nothing more than 3 min runs as that's all my poor old bod can manage.

You are right though, perseverence will win the day. I'm never going to run for 30 mins solid again, because of the darned hills, but I can get out every few days and jog along happily saying hello to the sheep and hills and clouds, and that is good enough for me now.

Lovely to hear from you again, and super impressed at your speed! Don't kill youself!

Useit xxx

[Hidden in reply to useitorloseit]

Hi Useit,

So sorry to hear about your mum and your dad, dementia is an awful thing.

The hills of Wales must have been abit of a shock to the system after the relative flatness of here, character building i believe is the phrase.

If i remember correctly i think i have rebooted C25K 3 or 4 times now,. The way i see it is any run is a good run time and distance dont matter .

Keep on keeping on Useit and just as important be kind to yourself always xxx

[John_W Graduate]

Nice to hear from you Rob - I remember you from back when I started posting in 2015. Sounds like you've done really well with your strength and conditioning work - I'm envious - It's something I continually struggle to do.

[Hidden in reply to John_W]

Hi John, thanks it has been the not so secret to my more recent success.

Like starting running, once you get started it gets easier (cough cough)

Keep at it you never know 🙂

[AncientMum Graduate]

Hi Not-So-Slow-Rob, so good to hear from you and to know you're still running and still knocking out some cracking times. It's funny how we all seem to move from c25k to enthusiastic running to injury to c25k reboot to more running to more injury.... A great cycle of running highs and lows. I'm still running, although my mojo is very raggedy at the moment. Hopefully the cooler weather will add a bit more enthusiasm to my step. Take care and keep up the good work.

[Hidden in reply to AncientMum]

Hi AncientMum and thanks, running is certainly a rollercoaster of a ride, i wouldnt be with out it now.

Glad to hear i'm not the only one who had a similar journey. As for the times they will come and ago but for now they have added extra motivation ..

The Autumn has sneaked up already. It was definitely afew degreees cooler this morning.

Hope you find renewed enthusiasm and get a spring back in your running step. Take care too x

[Irishprincess Graduate in reply to AncientMum]

Hi AM 👋

[AncientMum Graduate in reply to Irishprincess]

Hi Princess, I could have guessed you'd still be running ❤ Hope you're injuries have been few and your successes numerous. I really should come on here more often - there's nowhere else quite like it.

[Irishprincess Graduate in reply to AncientMum]

I’m still here because I’m too nosey to disappear and like to know what everyone is up to! Still running though..... 🏃‍♀️🙂

[Sandraj39 Graduate]

Hi Hidden - great to hear from you on hear again - I remember you here from my early Couch to 5k days and beyond! 🙂

A great tale of persistence and an honest tale of how life gets in the way sometimes - but runners keep on running! 🏃🏽‍♀️🏃🏻It's what we do and how lucky we are!

As you can see, I am still here (and on 'Bridge to 10k' and 'Marathon Running and Race Support'. I too, have had setbacks along the way (Sciatica too here) but sometimes these things are part of the journey!

Thanks for sharing your story - happy runnning! 🙂

[Hidden in reply to Sandraj39]

Hi Sandraj39 , nice to see you are stillhere and an ambassador too , 👏👏

Sciatica is honestly the worst type of pain i have ever felt, i dont wish thst on anyone.

Yeah life can and does trip us up along the way and make us allthe better for it.

I did miss a few things out i my post was trying to keep it short so people would read it and take heart from it when it is tough going etc

I am really happy in my running at the moment all down to C25K ..

Laura thank you 🙂

[Irishprincess Graduate]

Now that’s a nice blast from the past! Hello Rob, great to see you here again 🙂

Sorry you’ve gone through so much but fab news that you’re still running and achieving those goals 💪

I’m still around but mostly on the other forums and still running with joy to my little heart’s content. I’ve had various injuries over the years but I’ve learned a few lessons along the way too 🙄

Take care and happy running to you 🥰

[Hidden in reply to Irishprincess]

Hi Irishprincess good to hear and see you are still out there running too 🙂

Seems that there are afew of us that have endured varying injuries etc and just life in general but are still out there doing it

This year has certainly highlighted the benefits of being active and trying to lead a healthy lifestyle.

You take care too 🙂