CATCH-UP-CORNER...JULY WEEK ONE... SLIP of the running shoes and come on in. All RUNNERS WELCOME...🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

[Oldfloss]

Hello everyone.... WHITE RABBITS!

Here I am and here you are... Back in the Catch up Corner...a bit later today, but still all ready for you to slip off the running shoes, grab a cushion and have a tasty snack or drink!

Blueberry muffins, some lovely scones, soft drinks, tea and of course, coffee ! GF options too!

Time to chat!

We have loads of new runners joining us and loads of new Graduates too... and it has made for come excellent reading this last month. I was able to do a LOT of reading, because the wonderful @missunderstanding was here in the corner, giving me time to catch up on things!

So, I have been thinking... yes, I have! Uh oh!

Loads of folks in their posts have made reference to the fact that they don't feel like a runner. Or ask the question... when can I call myself a runner.... or I did this week am I real runner now? This run says I am a real runner now...

We had a super post asking us, when did WE consider Ourselves to be a RUNNER?

Well, my answer was... C25K...Week 1, Run 1...., because, when I took those very first NON- walking steps...I was , a runner!

The thoughts followed, you know me...that maybe the trouble and the struggles some of us have in our running, especially at the start, is because we are treating running like a little separate thing.. something in a little box or compartment, that we take out at the prescribed times and just do!

All the good intentions are there, the running shoes and running gear are purchased, routes are planned, But, for some reason, it just doesn’t work out.

You do a few runs, a few weeks, you are finding it, not as easy as you thought. You pick up your running shoes and put them down again, the weather is bad, you are tired, it is not working,,, what is the point?

There’s no motivation to keep running and sadly, for some, that is too much and... they give up.

The answer seems to be then, to make the running a habit... part of your life... part of you and what you do...because if you do, then you let it happen and you let it impact on your life.

From the moment that you take that first step... think of yourself as a runner... and accept it is going to change you.., it is going to become a part of you.

Running is a part of my life... not the only part... but it is part... it is part of me and who I am... and I love it!

Once you really believe that you are a runner, I think you may find it all suddenly feels a tad easier. Running isn't just something that you have to do; it is something that feels totally natural...think of all the other things that make YOU into who you are.. this is just another part.

Talk about it, share it, be proud of it...buy running things if you want to and are able. Ask folk for running gifts. Post your runs, share them on your social media platforms...let it become a friend... not a foe...

In other words... don't fight the run...let yourself... become the RUNNER that you already are.

Okay people... my random rambling thoughts...

Now.. if you feel like it... share your thoughts.. your experiences so far...if not., just sit down and rest a while.... and share your runs .

We will be here and cannot wait to hear from you

AND..in answer to that question.... What is a RUNNER... YOU Are!

Oldfloss x

P.S.

For any of our friends here, who have reached the Graduation podium...but still maybe feeling a tad uncertain, or even feeling that they are not runners yet... there is a super new place to visit...hosted and opened by  MissUnderstanding .... our very new, updated post for What is next.

Do pay a visit, I know that you will be made, very welcome.

healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate]

Hi Floss,

Sitting on my cushion reading this great post, and thinking, this is me right now!

I am resting my knee, yes, after straining my hamstring. But I am not thinking about when I will run next, anticipating it, or believing it is something I do. As you say, it feels like something I have to do, but am unable (unwilling) to find the time for.

Life is busy, I have much on my mind, but then, so does everybody I'm sure.

In my mind running is there to pick up again...I think committing to the daily yoga practises will help, and I am still going out for regular decent walks.

Like most mums I do put everyone else's needs before my own, and running time feels a bit selfish right now.

I think this may be because I can see how hard my daughter is working with hardly a moment to herself, worn out bless her, I am trying to support them and be available for her with my grandson. You know all this and understand of course.

I feel a bit sad to be watching from the sidelines. Maybe when my knee is back to full strength and things are more settled I will find my Mojo again.

Thank you for being here and listening.

🌹🌻xxx

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Bluebirdrunner]

Hello!!

So good to see you here... and to share what is happening right now. It is so important that we can share our feelings.

Our new runners may feel that they are alone in their struggles but we know that even as we move on.... life and all its ups and downs mean even the most seasoned runners have to stop.. ease back and rest.

Your knee has been an issue and as you say, family and the worry about and with them. takes its toll. Try to remember too though, that by keeping up your yoga and your walks, that is going to help keep you strong enough for them.

We have to try to realise, it isn't being selfish.... but by keeping fit and well, you are MORE able to be a support...

Sit on the sidelines, here, rest up and just pop in when you have time...things will settle, and move on gently.... until then we and any of the runs which are, believe me, part of you, whether they are resting or not, will still be here xxx

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Thank you Floss for the encouragement as always. 😊

I should add that I AM still a RUNNER and know that I will be back out there before too long!

I absolutely loved completing the program first time round (years ago) and always return back to it when building back after having had a break.

Onwards and upwards

🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️xxx

[GTFC Graduate in reply to Bluebirdrunner]

Bluebirdrunner is absolutely AMAZING. You've inspired me so much over the years. You won't know it but you do. When I go out, I think of people like you and you make me smile and glow. Your support of me and others carries us sometimes. Wishing you well and know that when I go tomorrow I'll hold that glow for you. Wishing you the best 💚

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate in reply to GTFC]

Aaaw that is very kind of you GTFC thank you☺I too think of my fellow runners and draw strength from them ( including you) when I run...

You have lifted my spirit today too!

Thank you for your good wishes, I hope you and Tasha are doing well.

🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️xxx

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to GTFC]

She is. .totally inspirational. And I am proud to have run with her and...to be her friend x

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

And me with you...😚xxx

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Bluebirdrunner]

Xxxx

[Folkylass Graduate]

Hi OF lovely to see you and what a cosy corner this is.So for me I think I became a runner as soon as I decided I was going to get out and run. That was a few years now and C25K . As you already know I used to run when was in the army… it was part of army life and we had to. However I started to enjoy it. Many years later I decided I would start running again after a long gap and other things taking priority.

Even though I started C25K and completed that ,various runs,races etc I still had a fear of looking silly,not succeeding. You know the sort of brain gremlins that take over. I think it maybe a bit of imposter syndrome.😂😂.

Now I try to run 3 times a week and when I don’t get out for a run I get a bit of cabin fever! So I think I’m at the stage now where I can honestly say I am a runner.

Tomorrow I shall get up ,get ready and get out and run ….keeping this conversation in my head .

Have a great week OF and…..

Happy 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🥰x

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Folkylass]

Hello... croissants are out, super smooth smoothies and some very yummy. breakfast snacks too !

Finding that self knowledge, so early is a great thing and yes, the army or any of our amazing military services would be a reals starting point. Compulsory and probably not welcomed by many...but you found enjoyment!

Those gremlins, they do their best don't they. to keep us down and spoil it all for us...Running now for you, as shines through from, your posts, is now part of you

I do empathise with that feeling.. cabin fever... just needing a run, a short run, and for me sometimes that might be a NRC 15 minute one!

I think you have been a runner from the word go... ? Did you like running as a child.. I loved it... I was really good at it.. why walk when you could run, or jump or just bound around?

Hope you have a lovely run today... I am off out for a jogette in a little while... Off to my other happy place on Tuesday, after a day with small runner in training tomorrow... My workout day!

Looking forward to your post, when you get back in.... pop in again here anytime... you are most welcome x

[Folkylass Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Thank you OF! Don’t mind if I do👍🥰🥰x

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate]

Good post from you Oldfloss, it's nice to know that a person is a runner after completing run 1 of week 1 of C25K, not as I thought run 3 of week 6 which your coach tells you that you are now OFFICIALLY a runner, indeed Floss after that first run of week 1 you can as you say call yourself a runner. I have noticed many new runners here on C25K since about the beginning of May which of course keeps the administrators and ambassadors busy replying and encourageing them on their running journey.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to AlMorr]

Absolutely Al...and how good to have you hear with us... I hope that there are some snacks I can tempt you with !

Yes, I do feel it is a little like an official birthday... the day you were born and a bit like the Monarch has... another one! If we believe we are a runner from that first run, then maybe that belief would get stronger and stronger as we move on through C25K? Do you think...?

Self belief is everything...

So many new faces popping in here and folk beginning this wonderful journey...it does need ALL of us to help keep folk supported and encouraged,,, I feel if folk looked at your running adventures, they would learn a lot and realise just what is possible!

Your cushion will always be here my friend, pop in anytime..x

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

👍 🏃🏾

[Annieapple Graduate]

🍏Good to be back on one of your cushions Floss & enjoying this heart to heart chat with you. It’s such a subtle mindset isn’t it? Often when I mention to people, in the course of conversation, that I run, I immediately follow it up by saying something like.. well not very fast, or not very far… as if I am an imposter🤣 In future I am not going to qualify that statement! I am a runner and I love it!

However sometimes it’s good to remind myself I am a walker too.. I found this helpful in the early weeks of C25K when my confidence waned.. and negative thoughts crept in , I would console myself with.. I will get up and get out the door and even if I end up having a good walk, it’s better than doing nothing! Once you are out the door and into the program it’s half the battle won! I still do this on days when I feel less motivated to run…

Well time to stop lazing here with you Floss and get on with my Famous 5 (Tibetan Stretches) Have a lovely day! 🏃‍♀️💕

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Annieapple]

I hope you got those stretches in and we didn't hold you up too much! YOU most certainly are a runner and one heck of one too...

Walking too... it has its place... my jogette this morning turned into a walk/run... my body simply said,,, no, ease off.... and I did! As you say, we are out there, we are moving and if we don't run, we walk... the runs wait

The cushions are here any time you want to pop in, and you my friend are most welcome...x

[Annieapple Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

😊

[JetsNanna Graduate]

Morning! I think I felt sort of like a runner after Week 5 Run 3. Then talked myself out of that feeling pretty much until after I’d graduated. Daft really.

I started C25K three years ago TODAY and it has been transformative. From feeling better physically to absolutely being more robust mentally, it’s been a real gift.

I run in the rain, a couple of times in the snow. I set my alarm early when it’s warm. I run on a treadmill if the pavements are full of wet leaves. I am addicted. I think that defines firmly as a runner.

And……I would not have graduated without the support of this forum. So, thank you.

Running is part of who I am now and I embrace it wholeheartedly and with gratitude and with a smile on my face always 😊

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to JetsNanna]

Hello!

Thanks for popping in... plenty of cushions here. I love this... part of you and running with a smile on your face....

I do agree... running in all weathers and all seasons,may be a huge part of what makes a runner...and certainly for anyone who has running as an addiction...that must define them!

Thank you for sharing x

[BGood]

I know I am a runner because even when I have had a break due to injury or life I always come back to it!

Following my most recent injury (not running related), I text my friend to say I couldn’t run that night, before I called for help! My mind was thinking can I still run the London 10k on Sunday when the answer was not a hope in hell!

So what is a runner? It’s a person who consciously decides to give it a go and opens the front door and steps through it as a runner!

It doesn’t matter if it’s a solo walk run with a beginners group or following C25K app it’s the second you step through the front door to do it!

The next challenge is to repeat it!

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to BGood]

Thanks for popping in and sharing your thoughts on being a runner... it is so good to read about everyone and their different perceptions... all runners together though.

Repeating it, yes... hence, becoming part of the run and it , part of you.

[GTFC Graduate]

I love running because it's our very own recipe. I add a bit of this here, a dash there, an occasional sprinkle elsewhere. It's my design, my recipe and my ingredients. Sometimes it's brilliant, sometimes it'll do and sometimes it's tough but it's always mine and for me. I don't compare or worry what will happen when I start. It's not a journey...it's an adventure because every run I have, I can choose how far, how fast, how long and where. It's my gift and present. My fastest will be someone else's slowest so there's no pressure. It's just... my special time.

It's taken me places and given me huge highs. It's been my constant companion through the last few years too. C25k and the forums always had my back and was so supportive.

Every person that goes out and begins is already succeeding. How your adventure unfolds is what makes it all the more rich and unique. All the experiences make and mould you and polish who you are as a runner. We all earn it by having a go...and if we keep going, we'll always have the chance to experience new things 😊

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate in reply to GTFC]

I love this, it is a recipe for success in life without a doubt.🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️xxx

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to GTFC]

Absolutely right... and I love the idea of us all having our own recipe for our running! Doing it for ourselves... that is my running too...

What a great story you tell , I really want folk to read this and to understand... you are the run,,, it is yours and you are it...however it goes...

Thank you for popping in... welcome here anytime!

[Cassie_7 Graduate]

Fab post Floss and so encouraging! We do not have to be Olympians to go running nor do we have to break records (unless that is specifically what someone wants to do, if so go for it!). However it is not a competition. I agree running should be something that we do, it is part of who we are. Some run fast some are slow (me😂 but who cares? 😂!) It's about feeling better, fitter and stronger 💪 x

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Cassie_7]

Hello ! Glad you could join us... ! You are so right...unless it is your choice to run speedily, we run as we wish to run... part of who we are indeed...

Feeling good, feeling fit and feeling strong! Perfect!

[Cassie_7 Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Exactly!

[grumpyoldgirl Graduate]

Thought-provoking as ever, Floss!

I never felt like I was a runner at school. Too many people were faster than me and it was very competitive so I just didn't bother. I think the first time I felt that glimmer was in the second week of c25k many many years later, which I did with a local running club. Three or four of us met up to do our homework run together at a local playing field, and a woman walking past us asked what club we were with as she thought she'd like to give it a go. "Of course", she added, "I'm not a proper runner like you ladies are" (!)

That gave me the first inkling that my imposter syndrome was all in my head, and that passers-by were not in fact pointing and laughing. I may be older and slower than most but I've never worried about not being a proper runner since that day, whether I'm running or on the bench. (Currently just easing myself off it very gingerly)

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to grumpyoldgirl]

Love this... we don't always see ourselves for what we are... and clearly that lady saw exactly who you were...

So interesting to see where you felt the first inkling of becoming a runner; my husband , who does not run says he thinks it might be in the second week if he did it.. he said anyone can start but carrying on is the thing!

Older. slower... who cares... we are RUNNERS and, we run... we run for joy and we run for ourselves... Perfect!

Thank you for popping in... there is a cushion here for you, always xxx

[Sax64 Graduate]

Lovely post Oldfloss. I think it was around W5 or 6 I began to think of myself as a runner. You know, when you finally manage 20-25 minutes non stop and feel thoroughly elated. My younger son is a keen runner, he's even done marathons. He's been so encouraging, he reckons I'll be up to 10k this year! Which seems quite incredible at the moment, but hey I can already do 4k and I couldn't run at all 5 months ago, so who knows where this running is heading to.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Sax64]

I can see that point being a runner moment... feeling that you are running comfortably and enjoyably You have done so well and clearly your run sees the difference in you and your running. How lovely to have his support !!

Stay running, RUNNER and you will be amazed where it gets you to... it got me from 5K to my first HM at the age of 69!

Thank you for popping in! x

[Dancerunner]

I love this post, very encouraging. I was wondering when I could call myself a runner as I'm new. Felt good about myself for running from the first day so that's helped alot. I still can't believe that I've gone for every single run so far and am tempted to run on the off days (I don't! - but I'm tempted 😄).

I think I felt a runner when I did the first long run Wk5 Run3 but really felt it was official I suppose when I heard Laura telling me I was a runner on Wk6 Run 3. So interesting you felt like a runner from run 1, that's brilliant.

I wonder why some people seem to fall in love with running and others give up? like you say there's no motivation - why? Is it the reason for starting in the first place? where/how they run? mindset? would love to hear what you think.

Brilliant post, really got me thinking. ❤️

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Dancerunner]

Hello... sorry I wasn't here when you arrived... I was on the way to Wales... but I have a Corner here too x

I think it is brilliant that you embraced the feeling of well being as a runner, from the beginning...Quite a few folk go for the official recognition stage at Week 6...but a fair few also, from the day they stepped out of the door in their running shoes

So good to share, and know how different we all are but how we all have this common love of running.

I am not sure on the folk who don't stay at it... sometimes life just gets in the way and with the best will in the world the running cannot be maintained.

We, on the Admin Team often ask folk who are struggling and thinking of not continuing, what the reason is... have those starting reasons changed or are they maybe pushing too hard, expecting too much too quickly...it maybe too that for some, it feels like they are on their own... and not participating in a sport with others... which is why, we encourage folk to post their runs, join in with discussions. pop in here, and just share... the successes and the set backs... and we all have them. Oh yes!

I loved it from the outset and I write up all my runs... that is a real part of my running...but everyone has so many different reasons and it is really interesting to see and know what those reasons are !