I'm not big on exercise, but I do occasionally take mad notions to get fit and be healthy (and, hopefully, tone up along the way.) They don't always strike around January, so I can't even write them off as crazed New Year's Resolutions: I've tried (and failed) at several attempts to complete the Couch To 5k running program during every season.
Anyway. A couple of weeks ago I took a mad notion to try this C25k business one last time; it was just something I sortwanted to conquer before my next birthday rolled around. I mentioned it on Twitter and admitted I've never really felt able for it in the past. I'm not wildly unfit, and I always found it wildly frustrating that everyone else and their double hip-replacement granny seem to take to it no bother. That was when Jen suggested that I give the Couch To 1 Mile program a go instead.
That, I thought, sounds realistic. Do-able, even. And sure since I'm partial to imperial measurements anyway I decided to go for it.
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There were nights where I'd rather have eaten my trainers than lace them onto my feet and head out, and without my Twitter peeps telling me to get up off my arse and do it, I might have given them a nibble. The end of week two and week three were particularly tough, I found. However, four weeks after I downloaded the Personal Running Trainer app for my iPhone and embarked on my month-long program of interval training, I was very glad that I'd stuck with it because, for the first time in my life, I was able to run for a whole mile without stopping. (Or, y'know, dropping dead.) It mightn't sound like much, but I was buzzing off the achievement for days and feel like I might actually stick with running now.
If you've also had a go at the C25k thing and found it too much, would you think of trying C21m, instead? As a way into running, I'd certainly personally recommend it.
image via brookecartus.com
