That's what an old friend whom I hadn't seen in forty years exclaimed when I got to the Airport
Kind of feel that way now. Seems FOREVER since I ran last but probably 'only' 7 months. Working on a ship did not allow for any, and then some of the worst weather ever when I did come ashore put the cap on it, as well as trouble with a wee fractured bone in my foot.
But - ship long sailed, weather rapidly improving and cautious 'try it' from Surgeon as regards foot bone saw me taking first tentative run yesterday.
Starting from scratch again. Did not use c25k app - start back with that tomorrow - but ran five reps of one tenth of a mile with one tenth walks in between to see how I would fare. 7 years ago I could not run even one tenth of a mile without stopping.
Dang it felt hard LOL.
LOL because having first started and graduated C25K in 2016, then going on to 10k, Ten Miles, a few HM's and one hard-won FM...running tenths of miles ... you would THINK would feel 'easy'.
Well - they probably would have for the genetically gifted but not for the likes of me I won't go into the terrible unfit and certainly genetically-challenged I was when I first started this wonderfully addictive pursuit but believe me, C25K absolutely definitely 100% works if you work it and take heed of all the good advice on this Forum.
And really, that is the most important thing I can say amongst all the ramblings - it works, don't let your 'thinking' tell you it does not. It is my firm and time tested belief that if you literally survive Day One, Week One ( I came close not, but you can read about that in old posts if interested/unbelieving you can go on to graduate and even go on from that to distances you cannot imagine at the beginning Might take you longer ( took me about 15 weeks), you might never get that 5k in 30 minutes ( I never have but you will get to graduation if you just keep on
The main problem is thinking instead of simply running - all those old tapes in our heads, "I'm too fat/old/decrepit for instance. 'I look stupid, people are laughing at me'. "I am too slow - now I am laughing cruelly at me' and on and on and on. I get them, we all get them. However, with a bit of time and experience they become laughable, believe me Because at that point you finally start accepting what has happened - you have become a Runner
Yesterday I ran half a mile in segments. Distance isn't important, the running is. The distance is only an aid to build up fitness so I can have more fun. The fun in running further is that it is more running and therefore more time enjoying the whole process, it's not simply about the number on the mile marker unless it is enjoyable, otherwise this would be punishment and that indeed would be 'stupid' At a certain point, I will find once again the combination of Time/Speed/Distance that will have me wishing I could run EVERY day ( not a good idea though, as I am sure you know by now) and that is what I am looking forward to with confidence - because of knowing this programme works! I hope those of you doing it for the first time can take some encouragement from that You will get there!
Truth is - you only 'do' a programme if you feel you cannot do something 'naturally' and there are literally THOUSANDS of members and graduates here who obviously thought they were not 'able to run' at first. So - good news is, you are NOT terminally unique here. We all started with Day One, Week One.
So -ALL you have to do - run. Slowly, steadily and within the parameters of the programme and individual capability of your physiology. One foot in front of the other and forget trying to 'figure it all out'. Certainly forget 'perfection' - even the proven BEST Runners in the world come in second place on occasions after all. It took me quite a while to truly 'get' that a heck of a lot of this running lark is in the mental game, I had to get out of my head to be able to use my legs to their best capacity
Take it from me - if you are new, struggling and feeling like you will never be able to get to thirty minutes ( forget 5K in 30, less than ten percent of graduates did it) not only do I know what you are feeling, when it comes to the heaving lungs, lurching tired legs, rapid heartbeats and so on...for the next few weeks until things settle back into their groove I will have them also And that is from someone who ran 26.2 miles at one point. Nowadays I know that the main thing is to simply go out the door - sometimes the hardest distance of all to accomplish - and simply let the run happens as it may. ANY run is far better than falling back into the 'Couch Life', believe me.
Anyway, it's good to be here again. I'm looking forward to the fun again of being in a massive 'amateur' crowd of runners at future events again - until you have tried that, you won't believe how much fun it is, beats anything on the box or big screen
Wishing you many happy miles in your future.
Written by
Irish-John
Graduate
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Nice to hear from you again Irish John, good post from you, so it's back to running after a 7 months break, you will "fly" through C25K but remember to take all the runs slowly as you haven't ran for a while, also, I wish you happy smiling miles with your running, as the late great Tim said at the end of his posts "keep running, keep smiling"
Welcome back! I like to keep reminding people that this time three years ago, I was feeling physically sick having just done the third run of Week 1. I could have given up then and there.
But I didn't.
I put things on pause and tried again a few weeks later. And when that didn't work, I paused again and tried a couple of months later. Third time was the lucky one.
I thought I hadn't seen you on the forum for a while and hadn't realised you were badly injured. Your post is, of course, an inspiration. We can all be Lazarus.
Hi IJ, welcome back for a bit of controlled falling, I just started again too after an operation (3rd time's the charm). Glad you're injury free and well enough to give it a go.
Hey! Lovely John ,you're back! 😁 I'm very late to the party! This is great to see, and you have the strength and resilience to get back on it,yay! 💪🏃♀️👌xxx
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