I had just begun to get back to a 'regular' running schedule when everything time and work-wise went absolutely pear shaped. Stuck for over a week with not only no running, but having to hang around offices and so forth - most sedentary week I have ever spent in the seven years since I started running.
Anyway - this morning resumed running with two ten minute runs and a three minute walk in between. I deliberately chose a very hilly route out of sheer bloody-mindedness, thought it would be a good way to vent a lot of frustration.
Well, sure felt it in my legs. Heavy, heavy HEAVY going And talk about slow - I have a 5k coming up in September and at the rate I was going it could be Christmas before I finish it LOL
However - when I quit focusing on my legs I noticed that my breathing was definitely "OK"
That is major good news for me.
See, I was a heavy smoker from age 16 to 53. 20 cigs a day during the week, thirty to forty at weekends. On top of that I had not one, but two forms of Asthma - cold induced and (ironically) exercise induced. Add to that a VERY sedentary lifestyle, a 'grab and eat whatever is handiest' diet, lots of mental stress and an enormous counter-reactive adrenaline situation...well, it's a miracle I was even upright, let alone in any shape to start Day One, Week One. (even bigger miracle that was able to finish it)
After about six months, my Asthma was no longer a 'problem'. By that time I had completed the programme and was working on reaching 10k. Subsequently, I went on to longer distances and a 5k became a 'no biggie run'. I actually got to where my 'favourite' distance is at theTen Mile events
So, today I was bemoaning how much 'fitness' I have lost when it struck me - my breathing was 'OK'. As a matter of fact, it was - and this is the very first time I noticed this - 'regular'. Regular as in I still had a fast rate - I never have nor probably ever will be able to 'hold a conversation while running' because of all the damage to my lungs both genetic and self inflicted - but I didn't feel like every intake was a gasp for air, and outbreath an explosive event
And of course - being able to run continuously for the ten minute sections! In 2016 Day One saw me literally bent double in absolute agony and literally with a blue tinge in my face. Ten minutes isn't ten miles. But when I think back on what ten minutes seemed like my first few weeks in the programme...it's like I ran a hundred by comparison
My best time ever in a 5K was 33 minutes and change...It will be fun to see how I do in September, but mainly I will hopefully be taking great joy in just feeling I have every right to be at the Start line because I have put in the time and effort and thus can legitimately say I earned my place
Wishing you all many happy miles in your future
Written by
Irish-John
Graduate
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Great post from you Irish John, I wish you luck for that 5K in September, I am sure you will be able to complete it well before Christmas, perhaps Halloween, lol, no probably a little less than your PB of 33 minutes.I didn't know that when you were running in 2016 for 10 minutes you almost collapsed and went blue in the face, perhaps that day you were going too fast and hadn't drank much water. I wish you also happy running miles in the future. 😊 🏃🏾 ✅👍
It’s good to see you are back on the road again and do celebrate those two 10 minute sessions. You know you can do it, you just need the time to get out there and run. Here’s to the next one.
Thank you Dexy 🙂 I'm extra- motivated by this 5k, I'll be running with my son and daughter 🙂 Apart from one quick run with my son a couple of years ago, this will be a first 🙂
Oh I know that feeling of really getting back into the swing of it all when life just goes and gets in the way of everything.Be in no doubt you have absolutely earned your place Irish-John and have every right to be on that start line.
Thank you Birdy ❤️ I finally got sense and hammered out an amendment to my contract that, barring exceptional circumstances, I get a guaranteed 90 minutes 3 times a week off. Guess what I will be doing with that 90 minutes lol
A great read John, interesting about the breathing, mine too is so much better than it was, Keep running and your September 5k will be a joyful and proud moment when you finish.
Brilliant that your lungs seem to have completely recovered now. Hope you can find the discipline to keep up the running regularly now while you are still working. Lovely that you will run with your son and daughter.. I hope you will let them run faster than their poor old dad 😂
My daughter was a bit crestfallen a few weeks ago that it took her 28 minutes to do 5k lol. I don't think we'll be running "together" so much as "merely in" the race 😂
As ever... inspirational...that 5K is well within your grasp.
It is going to be a walk in the park, compared to some runs you have done.
So many of us have had that, what the heck, feeling when we begin to run...many running by hospitals, surgeries, etc, in case they collapsed!
It is good for our new runners here to know that , the feeling is, for many folk, the feeling is normal. Your body is doing something alien to it... three times a week! You may be carrying extra luggage, have medical issues or other problems. No wonder it feels so hard.
But, as you say so succinctly, here... it is possible. Our run, our way,
Slow and steady, my friend. That starting line has your name on it x
Thank you Floss 🙂I had always thought that Running was a "Can/Cannot" deal - either you could run distances or you could not. It definitely seemed impossible to me that I would get anywhere even near 5k.
But - the programme certainly worked🙂 At the moment 5k seems like a "long" distance but by September I should be able to cross the Finish Line smiling. - there really is a "Joy of Running"
This is inspiring. One of the (many) great things on this site is the stories about how far people have come. And you've got a great story. Awesome to turn things around in the way that you have. I don't think I'll get my son out running, but he's threatening me with the gym! I haven't yet done 5k in running, though I did it a few times in the last couple of weeks with the walks added in. So you plan "another" 5k in September and I'm trying to build from my 4.7 to 5 by September! I'm stepping down first to try shorter, faster runs and take more rest days as I consolidate. Good luck to you!
Thank you G 🙂My oldest son works out at the Gymn and to me it is the most boring hobby imaginable LOL. All that hanging around and doing repetitive stuff anidst noise, recorculater air, stuck indoors etc etc - definitely not for me lol.
He (like everyone who knew me) was absolutely incredulous when I finally revealed I was running - believe me, the shape and condition I was in pre programme was as far from being a potential runner as you could get - and his attitude to running was 'It must be boring, hard in the knees, traffic getting in the way etc"
On a family break though, he ran a couple of miles with me because no access to a gymn for a week. I didn't think he enjoyed it but apparently the seed was firmly planted
This running lark can be the crack cocaine of the recreational world 😂
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And talk about slow - I have a 5k coming up in September and at the rate I was going it could be Christmas before I finish it LOL
W6R3 - An emotional ending to a tricky week :) 
Do most people reach 5k at the end of week 9?
Week 9 Run 3 completed. Is it the end or the start?
Finished C25K a week ago...
This is a part of me. New runners, the road IS long but always worth it in the end.😀
