Yaaaaaay! Such a busy day and I have barely had time to take this in but - This morning I completed my graduation run! All my favourite animals were out, including the sheep dogs) as well as a nice old lady on a solitary bike ride, a lovely couple, she was running, he was on the bike (I saw them twice, I think they were doing the same route as me but anti-clockwise) lots and lots of dog walkers, one called his dog over and held onto its collar so it didn't get under my feet. There was even a little boy in a tricycle playing in the gateway to one of the farms. It was a superb graduation party! (There was even two horrible people but bah, only two and who cares, they were probably gatecrashers anyway!)
I think of how far I've come. There was that clumsy child / teenager who was bullied in PE lessons and then hid in the toilets and dropped out of PE whenever she could, who convinced herself she would never be any good at anything like that and never took any interest once she left school. In fact she celebrated how little interest she took in it all.
Then she got a job that was down three flights of stairs, which was great until it got to the end of the day and she found she had to climb three flights of stairs to get out. One day she was chatting away to a friend climbing the stairs at the same time and the friend was going a little bit too fast for her and she struggled to keep up and talk. She did a very good job of disguising it of course but when she got to the top, she realised she felt sixty years old and not thirty-six at all.
So, she came home and watched a week's worth of Olympics, trying to find a sport she thought she might like to take up. She found many that would involve a lot of expensive equipment, or lessons. Hell, she didn't even own a bike! And then she saw Jessica Ennis and she thought ... 'Well running looks quite cheap and I could do it on my own in secret places where no one can see me.'
She went to Facebook and told everyone she was thinking of taking up running. She thought everyone would laugh. In fact a little bit of her HOPED everyone would laugh, so she could turn around and say, 'Oh well that was that then ...' and perhaps go and eat chocolate instead.
Nobody laughed. In fact several people said some quite encouraging things. One person mentioned C25K and she didn't even know what that was. She had to go and google it and when she saw that it was a plan that would get you running 5k in 9 weeks, she nearly shut the whole screen down ... because ... oh 5k is a very long way, isn't it. Then she saw you only had to run one minute at a time in the first week. 'I could try ...' she thought.
Nine weeks later I can hardly believe I am that person. At some point I actually started to enjoy running. I bought the shoes, the dry-fit gear, even a bright pink jacket. Most days I can't get out of the door quick enough!
Do you know what the best thing is? The best thing is all the new friends I've made during the past nine weeks. People who have encouraged me, cheered me on, picked me back up off the floor when I've messed up. I couldn't have done it without you lot. Thank you so much. All of you. Virtual hugs and kisses for each and every one.
XXXXXX
Written by
Pelephant
Graduate
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Awww - what a lovely blog. Congratulations and well done your from one former PE shirker turned runner to another! Isn't c25k great? Onwards and upwards now!
What a marvelous blog!! Your story is touching and goes straight to the heart!!! Thank you so very much for sharing it!! Hearing your story makes knowing that you graduated today that much more meaningful!!
This graduation party just keeps growing and growing!! We may have to RUN out and get more bubbly!!
Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your journey!! You should be incredibly proud of yourself...I know that we are!!
I have rather watery eyes reading this post, Pelephant! What a lovely story with a very happy ending which isn't an ending at all but a fantastic new start!
Just brilliant Pelephant! Well done you!! I can relate to so much of this including the PE lessons, posting on Facebook and the wonderful Jessica Ennis who was my inspiration from the Olympics to take this up too!
Congrats again on your journey and a new beginning; I hope to be there too in a few weeks time..... Sue x
I am sooooooo awesomely proud of you pelephant!!!! Such a touching story which truly pulled at my heart! It is a total honor to have you Graduate right along with us!!! We anxiously awaited all day to see this blog! Welcome to Grad World, wear your badge with pride, you deserve it!!!!! Happy dance, happy dance happy dance!!!!
What a great blog, and what a journey you've been on. I haven't been around long enough to have helped you on your journey, but I hope I will be here long enough to help others like you (and me).
Such a fantastic blog I love your idea of a party when you run, next time I'm off running I shall have to see who turns up to 'my party thinking about that should take my mind off my aching legs!!
Congratulations on graduating! It's an amazing feeling
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I love your idea of a party when you run, next time I'm off running I shall have to see who turns up to 'my party thinking about that should take my mind off my aching legs!! 
First run after graduation 
Graduation run done :)
Graduated and haven't run since :(
Graduation run- a new beginning
Lovely graduation run
