Just to prove that Tuesday wasn't a fluke, I did it again yesterday!
I'm really shocked with myself, if I'm honest. In my 50 years and until May this year, I had never, EVER thought about running. In fact I used to think that the people who did it were mad!
But it was the upcoming half-century birthday that made me take a cold, hard look at my overweight body and I thought "What can I do that will help me lose weight, that will only cost me time?" And running seemed to be the most sensible answer. Week one day one had me struggling to sustain 60 seconds and my goodness, when I had to run for THREE minutes... well I was just dreading it. Then the week five killer.... the TWENTY minute run... well, it goes without saying.
What I have found is that I have to go out with a positive mental attitude. If I fear and dread my run, it definitely affects my energy levels. Now I know I CAN sustain 5K I can chant "I can and I will" when things get a bit of an effort. I also know that runners do sometimes have bum runs. It doesn't mean that you're rubbish or failing, it just means that you've had ONE bad run, so put it behind you and try again next time. Also, take your rest days, your body needs those to assimilate what you are putting it through the adjust. Don't ignore injuries... most of them can't be "run off". Listen to your body - make sure you warm up, either with a brisk walk or by stretching and definitely stretch out afterwards. I also read an article this week about how beginner runners breathe and instead of inhaling big gulps of air, the idea is to exhale hard, to remove all the CO2, before inhaling and this definitely seems to have helped me this week... try it.
Don't give up hope... the programme DOES work. If you struggle, repeat the week you are doing, but you WILL get there. Blimey... if I can do it, ANYONE can!
Keep running, people xxx