I came out as a runner at work - no one laughed !

[parkbirdy]

It's only taken me a couple of months after graduation to oh so casually drop it into conversation when people were talking about sporty stuff. What really made my day was when one of my lovely colleagues - younger by some way - male - confessed he'd tried c25k but found it too tough to keep going during the winter.

High fives all round fellow graduates!

The last couple of months have been a real slog - a painful niggling tight hamstring, bronchitis ... but when I ran yesterday I felt like that was all beginning to fade into the past couple of freezing months.

I'm going to keep on repeating the 5k+ runs for another month until my breathing back to normal but I'm already eyeing up a 10k for July so I've got a good couple of months to increase distance and speed before it.

who'd have thought it.

[AuntieAli Graduate]

good for you parkbirdy!! high five to you from a non-but hope to be- graduate!!

given that you've got back out there after some nasty setbacks, real achievement.

eyeing up a 10k in July too! never mind eyeing it up - sign up!! you will be able to do it.

best wishes and keep running.

ali

[parkbirdy Graduate in reply to AuntieAli]

you will do it - this is an amazing programme if you stick with it - keep going!

[pingle Graduate]

Hi five Parkbirdy! Your stickability has been brilliant! I was a stealth runner for ages but am now also 'out of the closet'. One of the other mums at the school has got me to agree to a 10 k in June. I'm nervous but some of the others who are doing it have only started running 3 weeks ago so I reckon I'm already ahead of them. For my birthday I ran/walked all around our local reservoir 7.5miles. It took me just under 2 hours but I did not push myself at all and it's more than 10k. (See me talking myself into it?) I reckon by July you will have no problem with 10k and if you walk a bit - so what - that's what I'm telling myself. Good luck!

[parkbirdy Graduate in reply to pingle]

stealth runner - i like it - although you could probably hear my breathing from half a mile away

[Fingalo Graduate]

I kept it to myself too at first, although in my case it was because I wasn't sure I'd stick with it. To the point where when I asked the office running machine advice about where to buy runners etc, I gave him the impression it was about a Christmas gift for my nephew!

It was probably about week four or five I began to loosen up about it and chat to some and only around Week 7 I didn't mind who knew.

[parkbirdy Graduate in reply to Fingalo]

sometimes i feel like shouting at passersby - I couldn't do this before you know

[Fingalo Graduate in reply to parkbirdy]

Brilliant!

[Anniemurph Graduate]

Fantastic! I haven't come out to many people, because I think they will look at my overweight self and think, 'Really???', but the ones who do know are very supportive, especially the proper runners. Well done, you

[greenlegs Graduate]

One of the people that was part of the inspiration for me to start c25k was a neighbour of mine who is fairly generously built, but who took part in a village half marathon. It made me think - if he can do it, why not me? (I have a tendency to being under- rather than overweight and people tended to assume I was fit, but I really wasn't - hence my need to be slow.) So maybe those people that you suspect might think 'Really???' would actually be inspired by you instead, Annie!

(Not suggesting you need to tell anyone though - just that sometimes people don't think what we expect.)

[ancientrunner Graduate]

Well done - I'm still building up to it. Have told one person at work and now we whisper when she asks how I am doing. The thing is lots of them have done half marathons and a few marathons and I am still ridiculously thrilled to have run 5k - and I have that same urge to shout at passersby.