Who the heck is Laura?

[jbroox]

Okay, so I happened upon this blog in sort of a backwards way, I guess. I was actually Googling for some information about C25K running and somehow happened upon Malcy's post from the other day. I read his very inspiring post, then read some more of his posts and other comments from runners here, and then decided to join the blog.

I had heard about C25K through various Facebook postings over the past year or so from friends who had started (but not finished) the plan. I never really paid any attention because, quite honestly, there really wasn't much I'd rather do less than run. But, here I am.

I actually started my C25K using an app I found for my iPhone. In the past few years that's become my go-to source for productivity enhancement, so, of course, that would be the first place I would go to start my adventure. The app I downloaded is great because you can play your own music and the app keeps track of everything else — a female voice tells you when to run and when to walk, etc. Now, here's the funny thing, I actually assumed that you all had the same app and had somehow discovered the name of (or randomly named) the voice, "Laura." I kept wondering why your app was giving you all this great advice that mine clearly was not. I even checked the setting to see I had missed turning that feature on.

Well, today I was reading comments on one of my posts and someone referenced Laura as though I'd know exactly what she was talking about. It was becoming more and more clear as time went on that Laura is a real person and somehow you were all getting some great advice and inspiration from her through some podcast you had all discovered. It was time to figure out who Laura really is and see what I've been missing. So, I did a little snooping around and discovered the NHS Choices website and Laura's podcasts.

I will be starting W4 this coming Monday and I have downloaded Laura's podcast so I can see for myself what you are all talking about.

I really do enjoy reading all the great posts here and I've gotten a lot of good advice and encouragement for my journey.

Thanks!

Jay

[BettyJane Graduate]

I think most people on this forum would agree that having Laura telling you when to run, when to walk, you're half way there etc is very comforting, and after nine weeks of listening to Laura she's like a virtual friend, enjoy.

[amsjo Graduate]

I love Laura ... I have sworn at her, cheered at her and when she said she was proud of me and I could now call myself a runner... I sobbed with joy

So I now love Laura... hope you do too soon

[SBG356 Graduate]

Hey Jay have a great time with Laura! She will make you smile, grimace, swear and even shed a tear - she is just brilliant! You must check out Fingalo's ode to her here, it just sums up how we feel about her.....even though some of us ditched her when the long runs started but that was more to do with the music!

Enjoy your running journey and keep posting your experiences to your running buddies across the pond!

Sue

[PeaBea Graduate]

Laura is a Goddess. She has managed to get more bums off couches then anything/anyone else. Long live Laura. (OK, we may curse her at times, and other times wish she would fall down a big hole, but she gets us through each of those runs until we get our green badge of honour).

[con-brio Graduate]

Well done for getting so far without Laura. I'm sure many of us would've given up without her. There's some kind of psychology at work here.

[greenlegs Graduate]

Hope you enjoy running with Laura! If you haven't already found it, have a look here, where Laura describes her experience of doing c25k - presumably without being able to listen to herself!

nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/...

[Poppy2010 Graduate]

Glad you have found Laura - she has certainly made a huge difference to my life, and I too have smiled and cursed her at varying times throughout the program - loved it when she called me a runner ( think that was week 6); and felt really disappointed one week when there is no praise at the end of what seemed to be a tough run!

Hope you find her inspiring too; if not just be inspired by the blogs and the efforts of these lovely people (feels like they are friends when in reality we are spread all over the world)