It’s a year since I began c25k and I got myself new shoes. I celebrated with a run around the route I did for my first actual 5k. That took me 45min back in the day, and my average heart rate was in the 160s, and on the steepest bits I was going slower than my sons’ walking pace, and I was totally knackered by the end. Today I did the same route in 35min with my heart rate never beyond 140, and kept my pace the same on the uphill as the down, and at the end I felt I could have gone on forever.
When I think about how proud I was of things like getting the dreaded W5R3 out of the way or of simply heading up the road with the 10% gradient for 30 seconds or so instead of turning around to avoid it, it makes me smile. I’d come home from a run and tell my sons of whatever my latest triumph was, and they’d smile indulgently, knowing they could do far better. Now I have achievements that they haven’t done, I could impress them far more, but it just all seems so normal now that I don’t tell them unless they ask. But they’ve started asking me for advice, teenage men asking their dull middle aged mum for tips on how to train and stuff, that makes me proudest of all.
In the summer I went once to London to run a nice flat parkrun route with my sister who was my inspiration to run in the first place. When this lockdown is eased the plan is for her to come down to the Weald and do some trail running with me: I’ve got some well-worn trail shoes but she hasn’t found anywhere near her to get muddy yet....
Next target: the Mid Sussex three-day challenge: run a 10mile, another 10mile and a 10k on three consecutive days in May. That totals a marathon. If I am brave I’ll do two or three of them in my hilly home town, but if I am a bit chicken I have a cycle path starting in the next village which used to be a railway to fall back on, very flat.
It’s been a strange year, husband in hospital for a while with Covid, children leaving home then having to come back, all the awfulness in the news, pupils not all coping well with home learning, but running has really helped me to stay positive.
Written by
Magellan
Marathon
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Congratulations!! You’ve come such a long way since that first 5k. It has indeed been a strange and really challenging time, but it sounds like you are navigating it well.
What a moving post Magellan . Yes, it has been quite a year - thank goodness for our running!I do hope that your husband is recovering well now. Here’s to safer and easier times ahead for us all. Oh, and a well deserved new pair of shoes too! ✨👟✨🙂
He’s not far off being back to normal now, just gets breathless now and again for no reason. I’m very thankful considering how badly some people have long covid.
Hello Magellan, I can relate to so much of this, although I'm not as far ahead as you and I'm still boring my family with tales of hills I've run up and how fast I'm going! My son 18 who is fit as a flea has just started C25K and is asking (but not taking!) advice - week 1 injury... Sigh. Sounds like you're a teacher - me too. Online teaching is AWFUL!! And yes, running helps 😊Your post is very inspiring as it's where I hope I'm heading. I hope your training continues to go well and that we both continue to impress our teenage sons!
Thanks! I used to play football with them in the garden or the park, then one day the oldest – then seven – said it was time I stopped playing badly because they were children and put some proper effort in so it was a proper challenge for them. I had been doing my utmost, and told them so. They stopped asking me to join in after that, and they were 11 and 12 when they stopped thinking of me as a worthy tennis partner. I had assumed that I could never do any sport with them again, then today son #2 came with me on my run! It was a surprise, and it has made my week.
Good luck for the return to school next week, I hope it all goes smoothly.
Yes, my lot are all mega sporty and I was always the dunce. It's so nice to see them genuinely impressed by my running! Can't wait to get back to school & so the register in less than 10 minutes!! 😂😂😂
They’re my fourth pair, the first were cheap internet things which are now my weekend shoes for shopping, the second took me 500 miles and are on their way to work next time I go in in case I ever need to go for a run at work, the third pair are my trail shoes and still active. In the next town there’s a nice shop where I get gait analysis and they give me a 10% discount for being in their pal’s virtual running club 😀
Just by chance, today one of them did come for a run with me! He wanted to try one of my routes. He didn’t stay at my pace, he took off for a while... and he’s 14 inches taller than me so he really left me behind as soon as he got into his natural stride. But it was still nice to have him there for a bit at the start, and then when he caught up with me on the return leg.
Lovely post - congratulations on all your achievements 👏👍. Yes, it has been an awful time for everyone, I do hope your husband recovers soon. Love the shoes 😊 - are which make/model?
Thanks! They’re Saucony tide 13. I had the same sort last time, but not in such a nice colour. I had just rung the shop and asked for the same as last time, and when I got them it was a good surprise to have them in the exact shade of my comfiest running vest.
Congratulations on your runniversary, and nice new shoes, sounds like it's been quite a journey, and year, for you, that 3 day challenge sounds a tough one 🤔 but as i've been feeling a few niggles, and resting a bit, might leave that to you! 🤣
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