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jddoesc25k · 4 years

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Week 6 Run 1

Tuesday. OMG! I can’t believe we’re on week six!

We are still VERY tired from our 20 minute run on Sunday, muscles aching and the lot! But I had an animal crossing party to attend after my duties for the day, so we had to hop to it!

Today was 5min run, 3m walk, 8min run, 3m walk, 5min run. I wasn’t too worried after last week, we felt prepared to do these runs.

We were at quite a brisk pace today on our warm up, and when we set off, headphones in, we found the 5m was quite quickly over. Apart from some socially close teenagers, we didn’t have much trouble. We seemed to be going a little further than usual, and worried we might have been a bit too quick on our first run. We recovered quickly and continued chatting, then began our 8mins.

Sarah was soon saying we were half way, and our worst concern was navigating every dog walker, runner and couple in Worksop, all who seemed to be on Gateford estate! We won’t be out at this time again! Way too busy!

We did a bit of off-pavement running on the grass and as we ended the 2nd run I was starting to feel a bit tired. Pat told me I was running quite quickly, so I think I need to find more mellow tunes to run to!

The next run seemed to come around quite quickly, and although my breathing was okay, my legs were burning a lot as we started up the incline that is usually our finishing point. This was a very odd feeling and it made it very hard to keep on going for another 3 minutes when we we normally were just finishing our run, not starting it! Those last few minutes were agonisingly slow, but we kept putting one foot in from of the other.

We finished our run being egged on by a fellow jogger, which was great! 🥰 We continued to our 5minute warm down and finished nearly exactly outside our front door! I checked and on Sunday we did 2.7km in the solid 20m but today we 3.2km in 24m with breaks, so we are keeping an even pace.

We were so close to home, and I was rushing for a bath before the party so we forgot our sweaty selfie! Silly old us!

Two of my friends and family have told me that because of our success on c25k, they have started/are about to start running, which is great! I really hope they find the sense of achievement we have!

Week 6 Run 2

Friday...after saying “maybe later.....” 3 times since Thursday morning and calling off our run because of the rain, we bit the bullet and went for it.

Today was a 10minute run, 3min break, then another 10m run. The rain was definitely falling but it wasn’t too heavy. The problem was we went for a run just after having a meal - won’t make that mistake again! We both had gurgling tummies most of the way round.

It was a little tough getting going, and nearly as soon as we started I was out of breath and Pat’s legs were hurting! (I blame the food!) Sarah told us we were halfway through the first run, and I was very grateful we were nearly there. Around that time my legs started to burn but my breathing was easier. One stops, the other starts, typical! No reprieve haha! Despite the difficulty, we both recovered quickly in between our runs and when we started again I think my music helped my mind wander a little and not focus on the running too much “just 2 more songs to go Jordan! You can do it!”.

As we got part way through the second run I realised I was beginning to feel a bit of muscle ache in my thighs which I haven’t really felt before, only my calves. Pat thinks this means we’re opening our strides up a little more, although I did feel like I was shuffling the whole way round! 😂

Pat must be right though as it we have made good progress - we did about 3k over the 23mins which isn’t a bad time.

We basically finished our walk at our doorstep again, so we forgot to take a sweaty selfie again! We’re going to have to add some distance to our run so we remember!

We’ve got a 25 min run on Sunday, so we’re going to try and take what we have learned and throw it into that! STRETCH!! Water, but no food right before! Don’t forget to pace yourself!

Week 6 Run 3

I still can’t believe we’ve been doing this for 8 weeks guys!!

I had a late night last night, so I got up just after twelve (and missed buying turnips on Animal Crossing! Damn!) and had a day of mooching about on the sofa, watching tv and playing games with Pat. We said we’d go for a run later, when we knew it wouldn’t be busy outside. We had tea and said we’ll go in a bit when our food had gone down. We promptly forgot about our run.

So, at 22:20, we set off! And in our rush to get out before midnight, we forgot to stretch! We looked a bit of a sight doing lunges and stretching our legs on the warm up walk. 😂

Today it was a 25 minute run. While I wasn’t looking forward to it and I knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park (😉), I also felt like we had it in us to do 25minutes. We did 10x2 the other day and 20 last week so I thought: we can do this!

This first five minutes seemed to go relatively quickly. I kept a good pace and was pleasantly surprised when Sarah M started talking at the 5m mark as my breathing was fine and my legs weren’t too upset. However, the next 7.5mins, getting to half way (12.5min) through the run, were very long!

We were on a very very slight hill, but I always feel it in my calves, not as much as usual today, but it was still a little burn-y. The next section (to the 12.5 mins) seemed to take forever! I had started to get a stitch - I think we ran too quickly after eating again 🙈 - so I was breathing deeply to try and take it off, which messed up my running rhythm. After that, about halfway, I purposefully slowed down a little to try and get back on track. Pat did really great all through this - he kept an even pace and didn’t struggle. 🎉

Soon we were at halfway, and we were starting the long straight climb that we always used to end on. The gentle incline was fine, both Pat and I were much better with this than usual. Other than an excess of sweat because the weather was so close we were doing well, breathing evenly, legs doing okay too. As you come to end of this stretch the road banks upwards and we always slow down and it kills your calves because you’re already tired, but we both kept up a ~slower~ but regular pace rather than dragging ourselves up the “hill” as usual. I did have a small stumble here, but I’m blaming that on the street lights being out. 😂

Sarah M. told us we had 5 minutes to go, where had that time gone?? Great! We had just crested the hill where we normally finish running and turned up another hill! Luckily, this was was really nice and gentle and we kept on going. “I am Moana” came on my headphones and Moana and her grandma sung encouragement to me until just after Sarah said “One minute left”. I went for it (a fast jog!) and really ended the run on a breathless high! It was “Run-derful”!😂😂

We are really proud of ourselves! The point of C25k is to run for 30mins, and we just did 25! We both felt we had a little bit more left if we had needed it, so it’s somehow actually become an achievable goal!! Crazy!

We ran about 3.15km in the 25m which is a little slower than we did the other day, but I’m happy with that! I think it’s the longest time I’ve ever run in my life!

Don’t worry, we added a bit on the end of our run so we remembered our sweaty selfie this time!

Peace out ✌️ (Lol!)

🦄💖JD🏃‍♀️🤯

#c25k #c25ktraining #couch25k #ouchmylegs #runrunrun #week6run1 #w6r1 #week6run2 #w6r2 #week6run3 #w6r3 #justonesweatyselfie #sweatyselfie #redface #rain#nightrun

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jddoesc25k · 4 years

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Hello pals!

It’s been a funny old time these past few weeks, and I haven’t had the brain to post about c25k when more important things are going on. Nevertheless we kept at it, so here’s the RUNdown 😉! Beware, this one has 5 runs, so it’s another long one.

Week 4 Run 2

Friday. I finished work later than expected today, just lots of things to do. I really did not feel like going running because I was feeling rubbish, but it was the last day we could do run 2 and have a break before then next one so we got to it.

As with run 1 this week, run 2 was 3m run - 90s walk - 5m run - 2.5m walk - 3m run - 90s walk - 5m run. It was quite a bit more running than last week and I knew that this week’s sessions were quite a push so we tried to pace ourselves to make sure we had something left for the 5min portions.

We were okay on the 3min runs but we were really counting down the seconds on the 5m runs (literally). Because we paced ourselves a little better, our chests weren’t as painful, but my calves were still giving me grief. Pat struggled with his feet but we both kept plodding on, really slowing down on the last run. Finally we finished and actually felt very accomplished in doing this run again. Very tired though!

Pat had said I should take a break and go for a run towards the end of my normal work day to try and revitalise myself and get my head back into work but I wanted to continue, so we had set off quite late.

I should have listened because I felt refreshed after this run, it was hard, but the extra effort seemed to burn off some of the rubbish feeling I had and I really felt the endorphins rushing about. Pat now has decisive power over when we go for a run haha!

Week 4 Run 3

Sunday. I took Pat for drive to his parents and had a socially distanced drink. We thought it would be nice to go for a run down the canal close to their house for a change in scenery as Pat was getting a bit fed up with the 5 min runs.

The canal was a good place for our first 3m run as it’s pretty flat so we didn’t find it too hard to keep going. I had to tell Pat to pace himself as he really found a fast stride at one point! I got a few midges in my nose as we were running which wasn’t ideal!

Soon the path climbed as we went past a lock or two. We jogged past one and kept a wide berth as there was a mumma and dad pair of geese with their gosling who hissed and flapped their wings at us. I was certainly glad we’d been training to move faster than normal in that minute, although my calves were already protesting that!

At the end of our second run, we had an incline up to a bridge which my calves really hated but luckily we got a reprieve shortly after and we turned into one of the neighbouring fields to make our way back to Pat’s parents.

Pat was really in his element leading me round the fields he had grown up playing in and it really took my mind off of the run watching him playing. He took us over stiles and through a mini wood (which I hated - I got MORE flies in my nose, mouth and ears 🙈)

We were soon on our final run, and although my calves and chest were hurting, the change to the scenic route was really enjoyable.

This week has been a hard one, but the runs slowly have gotten slightly easier and more bareable as we kept at it. I suppose practice makes perfect, even with running. I never believed my P.E. teachers about this, and I still don’t want to believe it now! 🤯

Week 5 Run 1

Tuesday Morning, breakfast and a cuppa demolished, and ready and raring to go. This week is 5mins x 3 with 3minute breaks in between, which is actually 1min less than the total run of last week. Just an extra 5min run, but we knew we could do that stint in one go because we had done it last week. Okay, let’s go!

We step out of the house and we are hit by a wave of heat. Okay...so this could be a little harder than expected. Probably should have had water instead of tea or coffee, but anyway, we go for it.

All 3 runs are sweaty and way harder than last week. With burning legs and chests, we tire easily and I struggle at about 3mins into each run. The 3minute breaks are way too short and we home in on any available shade. My belly is churning and I am basically shuffling along to the end. The final run, my legs are in agony before we even get half way. I am breathing very deeply to try and relieve the aching in my calves and quads* and in the final minutes I’m dizzy and can’t see very well, not just because of the sun in my eyes. We finish and I want to collapse on the floor, but I can see the shade up ahead and make a beeline for it. My legs don’t recover very quickly today at all. I now know I DO NOT LIKE RUNNING IN THE SUN!

As we finish our cool down walk, glad that it’s over, I look at the app to plan our next run and see that this week isn’t the same everyday as it has been for the last month. Nope, the next run is 8mins x 2, 5min break. Uh oh! After this run, I’m not sure I could do 8mins!! But...well, it’s only the same total time as last week, and has a 5m break, it might be hard, but doable?

I check the 3rd run of the week thinking it might be 2 9min walks or something and my heart stops. 20minute run, no breaks? That can’t be right! But it is...oh dear. I really don’t think that is possible. That’s a big jump! We’ve only run 5mins at once and this is FOUR TIMES that. And it’s an extra 4mins total time! How can they think we can do that so quickly??

I’m pleased we completed this run in the horrible heat, it really was a hard one to do. Unfortunately I also have a sense of foreboding that I haven’t had for the whole programme: we might not be able to complete the runs this week. But I then think about our first two weeks when we couldn’t even complete the first day of c25k and resolve to keep trying until we get there. We might have to repeat but we will do it eventually!

We’ve not come this far to only come this far!

*Pat told me that’s what they’re called after the run

Week 5 Run 2

Pat made the executive decision to run on Friday, not Thursday, I think the 8min runs were putting him off a little...So despite my warnings of pain on Sunday (we were going for a bbq at our friends’ house who we hadn’t seen for a while on Saturday night, I was driving, and Pat would be drinking. A lot. 🍻🍻🍻) we skipped Thursday and ran on Friday Night.

I was scared of today’s run. 2x 8minute runs! I’d been whittling about it since the sunshine nearly killed us on Tuesday, so we went after work around 20:30. My new sports bra had arrived earlier that day, and it fitted(!!) so I strapped them in and we got going. (Best purchase I’ve made this year by the way - they didn’t move! No pain! Woohoo!)

The weather broke earlier in the week, so it was quite cold on the walk out before we started running and we were basically power walking to get warm! We geared up for the 8 minute run, and I started feeling the burn in my legs just as Sarah said we were half way through the first run, so I decided to slow down a little and made a mental note to drink more water and STRETCH properly before Sunday! After a minute or two the burn had lessened and when Sarah said to slow down for our 5 min walk, I felt like I could have kept going, which struck me as odd.

Pat recovered quickly and said that he was almost bored of walking! Ready to get the next run over with I’m sure, hopefully not my company! 😂 We thought it might be a good idea for him to have some music on the longer runs anyway to keep him going.

We started the second run and my shins and calves were instantly remembering the last run. I slowed down even further and soon the pain eased a little. Our final stretch is a bit of a hill (it isn’t but it feels like one when you’re tired!) and at the half way point I was ready for giving up, and then it started to spit! 🙈 Luckily it was a false alarm, but it distracted us a little. Those last few minutes really were a drag, my legs were burning and my breathing was heavier than usual trying to get up that last hill, but we kept on going and we did it! I did walk a little weird for a minute afterwards, stretching will be needed next time!

We ended the cool down walk and were happy with what we had done. We then remembered our mission in two days - 20minutes on Sunday... how were we going to do that????

Despite our worries, we still commended ourselves. We ran for 8 minutes in 60 second intervals the first week of c25k and we had ran the same amount of time all in one go, TWICE, today. What an improvement!!

Week 5 Run 3

Sunday arrives. OH MY GOSH. THE DREADED RUN. 20 minutes...can we do it???

After a particularly rowdy night on Saturday, poor Patrick was hanging: McDonald’s was necessary, naps were mandatory and our tv viewing had to be drivel. At 6pm, I reminded him of his terrible decision on Thursday and we set about the slow rise from the sofa. I even “made” a salad to help along the process! Those of you who know us, know I’ve forgotten where the kitchen is, so this shows the level of Pat’s hangover.

We set off for our walk to a duet of encouragements from Sarah Millican and wails from Pat about his stomach. Soon the dreaded time came: our 5 minutes walking were up and we were to begin our TWENTY MINUTE run. We opted for a light jog as instructed, with the option to push a little if we felt we could and slow down if needed. We had decided that as we weren’t stopping and starting, we’d have no time to chat in between runs and listened to our favourite bands to cheer us on: Bowling for Soup for me, Tenacious D for Pat.

Pat always dislikes the first few mins of a run until his chest opens up and he feels he can breathe a little easier. Whereas I’m the opposite, the beginning feels easy and after a few minutes it gets harder. I didn’t feel too bad to start, I was a song and half in when Sarah told me we were a quarter of the way through the run! Earlier this week I was struggling with 5 minutes! How has this happened? I assumed I was going mad and continued....a few minutes later we started a very shallow incline so we slowed a touch to allow for it.

We kept checking in with each other and we were both pleasantly surprised to find we were both doing okay. Soon we were half way through our jog and feeling alright. Some calf burn for me, but after a while it seemed to go off as though my muscles had stopped protesting because they knew there was no point!

Soon we were down the “hill” and I found that my strides were opening up a little and was “running” a little faster than usual which felt great! We turned the corner to start our usual slightly steeper incline just as we were told we only had 5 minutes left to go! Where had the time gone?? We were doing well!

As we were running late-ish and it was cooler, we were sweating but doing okay because the breeze was keeping us at a good temperature. My new sports bra was doing it’s job and I was beaming because I never believed I could do anything like this! Pat was feeling the hangover a little as Sarah told us we had two more minutes left. My calves were really starting to burn, because of the hill I think now, not because of my fitness level (!!) and very quickly we were hi5ing at our mission completed!!

Yes, we were breathing heavy, our legs killing and sweat was running in our eyes but WE RAN FOR 20 MINS STRAIGHT!! Wooooohooo!!!

I didn’t believe her at the beginning of the run, but it’s just like Sarah M. said. We were fit enough, and this was a mental challenge more than a physical one, but I still couldn’t believe we did this!! Triumphant, we set off home for our warm down walk and a hot bath!

(Excuse the shiny face!!)

💖🦄JD🏃‍♀️🤯

#c25k #c25ktraining #couch25k #ouchmylegs #redface #runrunrun #sweatyselfie #week4run2 #w4r2 #week4run3 #w4r3 #week5run1 #w5r1 #week5run2 #w5r2 #week5run3 #w5r3 #sunshine

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jddoesc25k · 4 years

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Runs of this week!

I’ve been a bit busy with the old bank holiday this weekend, so here’s a round up!

Week 3 Run 2

Thursday. My poorly Steph (my car 🚙) needed picking up from the garage so we decided to run to pick her up.

It was a little shy of the distance we normally run so we agreed to do a loop at the end near the park. The run is a straight road down into town, so it was okay. The 3 min runs were a long time but it doesn’t seem as long when you’re running a different route, so that was a bonus! Pat struggled a bit with his feet and I struggled a bit with the app, so we had to get Siri to do some timing and he is not as forgiving as Sarah Millican!

We did it! Maybe a bit higgledypiggledy but I think we ran slightly longer than we were meant to actually. So £££s lighter, 😫 and 4 heavy legs later we zoomed home for a bath in the newly fixed car! Beep Beep!

Week 3 Run 3

We woke up on Saturday for our run and my legs were hurting and I really didn’t feel like it. We had found some improvement when we had waited 3 days between runs the week previously, so decided to wait until Sunday. We had a lovely Saturday, nice and chilled, then we played a Superbad drinking game with 4 of our friends via Facebook chat and got more than a little tipsy (I vaguely remember 4am). We woke up just before noon with pain everywhere. Banging head, wobbly stomach, poorly back, even our muscles were aching. Not sure how - we were sat on the sofa all night. What was worse was the realisation we also needed to go for a run. After the hangover hit fully and abated a little, we decided that it was time. I don’t know if you’ve ever done a run hungover, but it is not advisable or any fun.

Still we went for it, feeling sick all the way round, my normally comfy leggings making me want to throw up at every turn. We got round that circuit and it was horrendous. But we still did it! On a hangover!! And we actually felt much better after we had finished it; it seemed to revitalise us. So this is great knowledge, but I’m not sure I’ll ever use it if i can help it!

Week 4 Run 1

We put off our run from Tuesday because we were very tired from the hot bank holiday weather (and a few beers!) so we resolved to go on Wednesday morning. No dice, so we went around 3pm during a break from work.

Well this week’s run was 3m run - 90s walk - FIVE min run - 2.5min walk - 3m run - 90s walk - FIVE min run. We had only done 9minutes of running last week, and this is 16 minutes! That’s a big jump! We’re doing nearly double the running that we did last time!

We set to it. We listened to Sarah Millican and paced ourselves and the first 3min was okay, we could do that. The 5mins! Well! It’s hard let me tell you! It just keeps going and going!

At least we got a nice long break of 2.5mins? Well that felt like 2.5 seconds and we were running 3min again. That was a HARD one, but it was over soon enough.

90 seconds later we started the 4th and final run. After about 15seconds my calves were burning, after 60seconds my whole legs were burning and i’m sure we were “running” slower than we could walk. Sarah M. told us we were half way through, and it felt like we’d been running 10mins! At about 60 seconds to go I started feeling dizzy and very very hot but kept on pushing. We kept on going and going and going and eventually it was over!!! Thanks goodness for that!!

This was the most painful my legs have been the whole time we’ve been running, my chest was fine, but I think I’m back to training my legs again. I’m going to seek advice (Jocelyn I’m coming for you!) and see if some stretches might help. Either way we RAN FOR FIVE MINUTES!! Twice. That is such an achievement!! I’m very proud of both of us.

Side note - I moved on another stage on my Pokemon Go Sinnoh Challenge and strangely, I need a ghost Pokemon again!

And I’m off. Many loves to you all <3

💖🦄JD🏃‍♀️🤯

#c25k #c25ktraining #week3run2 #w3r2 #week3run3 #w3r3 #week4run1 #w4r1 #ouchmylegs #sunshine #runrunrun #couch25k #redface #hungoverrun

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jddoesc25k · 4 years

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Week 3, Run 1

We did it!! We ran for 3 full minutes TWICE. I would have never believed this was possible. Especially that first day. I couldn’t even run 60secs after a few mins!

I was feeling rubbish yesterday - I don’t think I got enough sleep - so we wrote it off, try again tomorrow. Pat woke us up today and it was like my brain was still in bed! I was on autopilot and not very present but knew we needed to go today. Got up, fuelled up on banana and chocolate bread (yum! 😋) and got to it.

90 seconds seems lovely when you know you’ve got a 3minute jog coming up! We slowed ourselves down today because we knew we needed to pace ourselves and it seemed to do us good. We didn’t get as far as usual but we weren’t running quite as long either. And although I wanted to stop as soon as I set off, I knew I could have kept jogging for a bit longer if Sarah Millican told me to, so that was a great feeling.

Also, we both caught a ghost Pokémon to finish up the Hoenn challenge on Pokemon Go so that’s another win! 🤣

Another thought - with the weather being like it is, we might need to start wearing suncream! I hate putting suncream on so this may become a barrier to running. Geddit? 😉

And with that I bid you adieu!

💖🦄JD🏃‍♀️🤯

#c25k #c25ktraining #couch25k #ouchmylegs #redface #runrunrun #sunshine #week3run1 #w3r1

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jddoesc25k · 4 years

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Week 2, Run 2 (plus 3!)

I missed telling you about Wednesday’s run! So here are both!

It was pretty cold (which we liked) on Wednesday and we found it pretty hard, even towards the middle of the run, not just the end as usual. Those 90secs are loooong. My calves were burning by the 5th run! We got through it though. Just about. This exercise rubbish does make you feel better throughout the day, I got so much done at work, even though I hate to admit it!

It was also Pat’s dad’s birthday - so Happy birthday Fergal for Wednesday!

Week 2, Run 3!

Both of us had sore legs on Friday and I did not wanna get up and run before work so we took a day off. Saturday 😁 we went for our 3rd run of the week and we had banana bread and a cuppa first!

Despite those 90secs being looooooong, we both didn’t have too much trouble with runs 1-4! We had a few wobbles with the app - it keeps stopping so we got a bit confused! But it wasn’t until run 5 that we really started to feel the burn and that’s when the wind picked up...in our faces...up a hill. 😅 My face was SO red! Haha!

We made it though!! It was a hard one and I’m sure that last 90s was actually double but we did it! We both agreed that we the extra day’s rest helped us. I also put it down to the banana bread giving us a boost, like last weekend. So I have made more for next week and we will try that before each run to see if it helps us build up to the next stage. Which is something I’m a bit worried to be honest - we have to run for 3 solid minutes next week. Twice!

Anyway, despite my reservations, I am super proud of us, it’s going well: We’ve been “running” for 4 weeks now! That’s better than sitting at home! And we’re not perfect but I just try to remember:

Much love!

💖🦄JD🏃‍♀️🤯

#c25k #c25ktraining #couch25k #redface #ouchmylegs #runrunrun #w2r2 #week2run2 #w2r3 #week2run3

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jddoesc25k · 4 years

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Week 2, run 1: Monday Morning.

Let me just repeat that. MONDAY. MORNING.

Now, for those who know me, they know that I don’t do mornings. Like at all. And a Monday too! But Pat gets up with the sun and I’m always way more tired running after work. Work, by the way, are super flexible and awesome and sympathetic to my sleep schedule! Go AMT!

I was still feeling a little rough, but we set out and stepped out of the house into freezing winds! Oh British weather, how we love you! This is good for me and Pat, although super chilly in our tshirts, we both get too hot running so it balances well. What we didn’t expect was the hail!! We didn’t even get our obligatory poke stop on our warm up walk it was that cold!

Anyway, we did the week 2 run 1 schedule. NINETY seconds of running, instead of a minute and then a 2m break (thank god). The runs were loooong the breaks were infinitesimal but as the weather brightened up we got through the 6 runs and I certainly perked up. We finished and I felt great! :) Wahoo!

Until next time!

💖🦄JD🏃‍♀️🤯

#c25ktraining #c25k #ouchmylegs #redface #couch25k #sunshineandhail #w2r1 #week2run1 #runrunrun

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jddoesc25k · 4 years

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Grab a cuppa, it’s a loooong one! So, Saturday rolls around, week 1, run 3 and...

I woke up with ungodly ute’ cramps and really did not fancy moving my body much further than from bed to the sofa. After much curling up and refusing to acknowledge standing up was a possibility, I went downstairs, (it was morning! Just!). I had a big mug of tea, kindly prepared by Patrick, and a big slice of banana bread, kindly baked by me the day before. After a much needed sugar injection, I decided we should try to do our planned 3rd run of the week and we could turn back, or walk if we had to, and we got to it.

Well I don’t know if you know this but it was frigging frogging ROASTING on Saturday! The sun was blazing down as though it had forgotten what it was for right up until we stepped out the door. I was sweating before we got off the drive!

For some bizarre reason we decided to go the opposite way round our regular route than normal. The last time we did this was our first try at running...*cue flashback music and wobbly screen effects*

Two weeks last Wednesday, the 22nd April to the normal folk, I was speaking with my course tutor about how odd working in the lockdown is and he asked how often I was going out. I confessed I hadn’t really been out at all. Pat was doing the shopping, I’ve never been one for exercise, and we’d been lucky not to feel ill, so the relative safety of home was really the only place I’d been for weeks. He said that I should think about exercise to make sure I kept myself from going insane (a very real and present threat). He mentioned couch to 5k and that he used to run and I immediately dismissed it. Me? Run? Haha! I finished the call and went about the rest of my work day.

Anyway, the idea must have been percolating in my head, and I soon found myself on google maps looking for a 5k walk nearby. I fashioned a loop with a little detour in the middle to make it up to 5k and wondered what the first day of c25k would entail. “Ha!” I thought, ”I bet I couldn’t do it anyway.” So I had a little look at the website. I read some of the testimonials and the people there sounded just like me - couch potatoes! But these were potatoes turned runners claiming how simple they gradual build up was! Maybe I could do this? Nah! Surely not? I downloaded the app anyway and looked for my running shoes.

Well, they were nowhere to be found which was frustrating, (I’d just cleared the house top to bottom, and I hadn’t seen them, where were they????) and Pat wondered what all the fuss was about, it’s not like I go outside anyway! I told him about the app and asked him if he wanted to try it with me. He’d been thinking we should probably do some moving, that wasn’t directly between the kitchen and the tv so we got changed and set out (in converse, which was a poor idea!)

We chose Sarah Millican as our trainer and set off. After our 5min brisk warm up walk, she told us to start our 1min run, gentle she said, ease into it she said. So I went running off down the hill and even had the audacity to tell Pat to keep up. 🙈

I was okay with the first two, pushing myself and getting progressively more tired, and as I finished the third, puffing and panting and realised I was feeling sick! 🤢 We continued with our 90 second walk and as we started our 4th run, up an incline, I realised that I was not feeling any better. Actually, my vision was going blurry and I was getting dizzy. “Uh oh!” I thought, “Am I that unfit??”

I called a halt and got my breath back. Pat looked at me worried (and with a bit of laughter at the edges) and we agreed to just walk the rest of the way back home. We made it without further incident (other than shame). I was pretty shocked and upset about how unfit I was and my feet were killing me (note to self: you have weird feet, don’t run in converse!) I was super sweaty and felt dreadful and so I resolved to find a way forward. Any exercise is better than none right?

We took our underserved day’s rest, and with aching limbs set out for our next run after work on a FRIDAY! We had decided that we would try to get through 4 runs, make them more of a jog (as we were told!!) and space them out. We struggled through run 1, 3, 5 and 7 and even took a little bite out of 8. Feeling thoroughly accomplished (and thoroughly knackered!!) we planned the next run for Sunday - eugh!

We woke up on Sunday and wished we’d never heard of couch to 5k. Still, we didn’t want to have do it at the end of the day like Friday so we got up and out and had finished before 12. We did spend the rest of the day laying down haha! We managed 5 (and a bit) runs, and we were very proud of our progress. It was getting easier!

We had worked out that we could count this week as week -1 instead of week 1. We’d run 3, then 4, then 5 out of the 8 runs.

We could then count next week as week 0, we’d again be able to increase by 1 run each time. Running 6, then 7, then by the end of the week, the 8 runs!

The week after we could start afresh and be able to do the first “potato” run of couch to 5k! Only took a two week run up....

I’m not gonna explain week 0, I’ve already rambled enough, but your your viewing pleasure, here are our sweaty selfies!

Anyway, where was I? *wobbly screen and flashback music* Oh yes! We’re in the blazing sun, Saturday, with stomach cramps. We struggle in the heat and when we get to the 4th run, the one I failed on that first time, the one which starts us up a hill, we think we’re gonners. Our calves ache, our shins ache, we’re as sweaty as can be, but we push on to get to the glorious shade.

We keep going and beat the evil sun run and my tummy hurts less! A great day of laying down follows and my red face doesn’t subside, (sunburn in 40 mins?!?) but we are very proud of ourselves. Thank goodness we don’t have to run on Sunday again!! We attempted the first Monday morning run today for the start of week 2! Can’t believe we’re still doing this! Go us!!🏃‍♀️🏃

🦄💖JD 🏃‍♀️🤯

#couch25k #c25ktraining #c25k #ouchmylegs #sunshine #week1run3 #w1r3 #redface #sorrythere'snoTL;DR #runrunrun #longpost

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