Couch to 5k

Work has been manic recently and i've hardly had any 'me' time. However, I have managed to carve myself a little of time out of my busy schedule to do something that I never thought i'd do - i've started running! I never thought I could run as attempts to train for the Race for Life when I was younger resulted in chronic leg pain and me swearing that i'd never run again. However, I found the NHS''s 'Couch to 5K' plan online and decided to give it a go. It's fabulous as it intersperses both running and walking, gradually building up the length of your running time as the weeks commence. I'm currently on week 3 and managed to run for three solid minutes last night without stopping, it seems like nothing, but when your there and your body is feeling drained, you're mind is telling you it's too much and you just want to stop for 'one minute - honest', it's a totally different story.

There's actually a group of us doing the 'Couch to 5k', we're all novice runners and our goal is to run the Jane Tomlinson 10k next June. Being part of a group has definitely helped me to stay motivated, it's much harder to miss that one night because you're feeling tired, have work to do, blah, blah, blah when you know that you're part of a team. Plus that 'I did it!' feeling when you get back from a run is amazing and always makes the whole experience worthwhile.

We've only just started the third week of 'Couch to 5k' but i've already noticed my legs firming up and that slight 'spare tyre' around my waist disappearing. I'm amazed that i'm noticing a difference in my body already as I always worked out before and didn't expect to see many changes in my body shape, but there you go, i'm definitely not complaining.

So that's where I am right now. I'm still working on the '12 week turnaround' (this is week 8) and getting rid of the clutter in my life, though I suspect that it's going to be a much more self-focussed and introspective journey than I first predicted. I'm excited about where i'll be by the end of week 12.