W1R3 done - who'd have thought it! But terrified of W2...

[ediththegeranium]

I've actually completed the three Week 1 runs! Without dying! Wooo! (Though if no further posts appear from me, and not that I'm a pessimist - just acutely aware of how unfit I am - you have my permission to assume the worst...)

Didn't think I'd even manage Week 1 tbh, as the last time I tried running, about three years ago, I think I made the 200m mark then my chest seized up and I genuinely began to fear for my life. (Ok, yes, I may have a tendency for melodrama.)

Today I altered my usual route (canal: nice and flat, if a bit scary when you get hissed at by geese and swans) to go through the woods instead. A bit muddy, but I do like trees, so a great plan, thought I...until I came to the first hill.

Ok, so admittedly I can't even really call it a hill. It was a short incline, really. But a shock to my poor legs none the less. At top of said incline I had visions of collapsing halfway through the 20 minutes, but worse was to come: the podcast decided to time it just right for me to complete my 60second run up a very, very steep incline (I actually feel justified in calling this one a short, sharp hill). Again, thoughts of collapse - nay, death - swam through my oxygen-starved brain. Would this be my final hour/60 seconds? Would I fall to the ground, feeling my grip on life waning as I spent my last moments on Earth (mud) listening to Laura's dulcet tones as higher forces guide me towards the light?

No. The sharper amongst you will note that I could not write this tedious blog post from the Other Side (unless BT has made dramatic leaps forward in its fibreoptic broadband project). I am in fact alive and pretty well, to the best of my knowledge, and with this morning's early bird run an hour or so behind me and my legs and lungs no longer complaining pitifully, I'm actually rather looking forward to the challenge of Week 2. Am I mad?

[wilmacgh Graduate]

Great blog and well done. If you are doing hills in week 1 you'll find week2 no problem.

[ediththegeranium Graduate in reply to wilmacgh]

hmmm, I'm not so confident - but as you've done the whole program I'll try to trust you on that one! Thanks!

[ladybugw Graduate]

Loved the blog. Sounds so familiar lol. Great work though seeing it through those inclines can be killers. It does get easier honestly although every run is designed to get every ounce of effort out of you.

Keep going look forward to reading your progress.

[ediththegeranium Graduate in reply to ladybugw]

Yes...I hope Laura is aiming for the tomato-face look...! Thanks ladybugw

[Soozz Graduate]

Great blog, made me chuckle. I am so impressed you did those hills, unlike me who challenged myself this morning and now wish I hadn't!!!! You will be fine for week 2. Trust yourself - and Laura, too, of course!

[ediththegeranium Graduate in reply to Soozz]

Well I'm working on the principle that chuckling is (I like to tell myself) good exercise for the diaphragm. Or summink. Well done for challenging yourself, especially on a Sunday morning, what a saint! I'm sure your hard work will pay off

[Legion Graduate]

Mad? Yes, it's a prerequisite. But this is the good kind of mad. This is the kind that means, in a few weeks time, you'll be running for longer than you're walking and absolutely grinning your face off. Week 2 scared me, and I did find it tough, but I got through it, and week 3, and now I'm in week 4 and have probably scared all the people I passed in the park after my run today.

Great blog and I look forward to reading more. Good luck.

[ediththegeranium Graduate in reply to Legion]

Haha, great! Thanks for your encouragement, Legion. Hope you have a good week 4!

[nerd]

well done! Your post really made me chuckle. And I agree that laughing should definitely count as exercise!

I have just done week one workout one - it was blooming hard! keep going and let us know how you go on