Can't Run, Won't Run, or Can I? - C25K

For years now, I’ve told myself I can’t run, that I’m just not built for it and I was truly convinced.

I’ve only run (I use the term very loosely) once in the last 7 years and that was a couple of weeks ago, I was in a bad mood, and decided to go for a jog in the rain, I was quite surprised at how long I managed to go for without having to switch to walking. It was only a short distance but I was quite proud myself. I decided then that I could probably give it a try, I didn’t start immediately, for fear of injuring myself prior to a 25km charity walk last Saturday, that’s now done and dusted so I started using the C25K (Couch to 5km) app yesterday and successfully completed Week 1 Day 1.

For those who aren’t familiar with C25K, it’s a free app that you can install on your phone which acts as an audio guide for building up to a 5km run, 3 sessions per week, over an 8 week period. The first week you start with a 5 min warm up walk and then have 8 intervals of 1 min running and 90 seconds walking. The running time increases and number of intervals decrease gradually over the weeks until you can run steadily for 5km.

I am under no illusion that I’m going to morph into Linford Christie, my first day was 2.25km with an average pace of 10:55 per km. I found singing under my breath was very helpful (a tip picked up in the MFP forums) in managing my breathing, which is something I’ve struggled with when trying to run in the past. I surprised myself at how easy it was, I didn’t feel out of breath, didn’t get a stitch in my side or experience any other aches and pains.

Roll on Day 2!