I convinced a friend to give the program a crack. There’s nothing like a bit of peer pressure and I worked on the basis that having someone else along would make it a bit more fun and provide some accountability, So we started back at Week 1. I also worked on the basis the extra easier (than week 2) runs would ease me into it a little more, at the end of the day the program is 9 weeks, but it doesn’t matter if it takes longer it’s not a race (ironically).

Run 1 (23/05/2018)

My new running partner’s first run (my 4th) and it showed I felt their pain literally. Although they did a much better job of the first run than I did, there’s no way of escaping the painful truth that we are both very far from fit. For me it was an easier run, having someone along to talk to (although there wasn’t much talking by halfway, just a lot of panting) and share woes with and basically have a laugh made the time pass quicker.

I did make the mistake of doing a 10-mile walk the day before and started to feel it in the last few 60 second runs. I think we’ve already established that running for 30 minutes will be far more effort than walking for 4 hours. So I think I’ll switch to purely running rather than trying to maintain walking long distances going ahead. The rest days in between runs really do have a purpose.

Run Rating : 

Run 2 (25/05/2018)

What a nightmare of a run, I really struggled. It was hot and very humid, I ate too close to the run. It was evening as well which I don’t think I like, I think I prefer earlier in the day generally. Just about made it but by far the hardest run full stop, even harder than the first day. Just miserable, even with the company and not to mention soul-destroying after the last run had been so positive.

Luckily I’d read enough about other peoples experiences to know that sometimes you are going to have a bad day. So I’m going to shake it off, make sure I’m better prepared next time and push on. My partner did far better and even on run 2 is showing more natural place. I know from walks they’ve got a naturally longer leg stride than I have which is becoming very apparent.

Run Rating : 

Run 3 (31/05/2018)

After the disastrous run two, I made sure I ate 2-hours before the session this time. Thankfully it wasn’t as hot as well, it was still in the evening. All in all, it was a much better run and I am now getting to the 5th interval before having to start to dig deep.

Having run week 1 twice now, I can definitely see some progress and in hindsight I think given where I was starting from it was probably the best move, to ease into to it.

Let’s see what happens in week 2, I’m still not convinced even with the extra time that 6×90 secs is really doable.

Run Rating : 

This is going to be a breeze ALL I have to do is run for 8 minutes, how hard can that be? Even easier it’s 60 second’s with 90 seconds cool down. This is going to be a bit of fun. I’ve checked out the app and we’ll be going with the default Laura voice coach. The thought of Sarah Millican calling me out for a being a Southern Fairy was a bit of a concern, and I don’t think myself and Ben Johnson are probably approaching running from quite the same  perspective.

30 long minutes later …

Oh my god reality has come crashing in, all those years on the couch have clearly taken their toll. It f****** hurts, my feet feel like I’ve been crucified, lungs are burning at the unnatural and unreasonable demands and my stomach made it’s displeasure clear with a rising wave of nausea at the end of each run, not to mention the moobs thwacking on my rib cage with every step. In a word, disaster.

I thought, that getting to the point of walking 20+ miles a week would have counted for something in terms of stamina, it honestly didn’t. I realised that after the first 60 second run. Walking rarely get’s your heart racing and lungs burning, it was a very rude introduction to what I assume everyone else calls Cardio.

I honestly couldn’t believe how unfit I was, I was struggling to keep running for each of the 60 seconds and I wasn’t recovered by the time the 90 seconds was up. By the half way mark I was really struggling, I can understand why this is considered the hardest run. On top of getting up the motivation, actually getting out in the field and then the realisation of just how difficult it was it was a very rude awakening.

The only saving grace was at least I did it. Somewhere in the back of my mind were all the videos of people who went through the same experience and did it and many were starting from a far tougher place than I was. So I’m not going to quit, but when are these endorphins meant to start kicking in?

Run Rating : 

If you not already aware Couch to 5K (C25K) is an exercise program to take you from lounging on the couch to running 5K in 9 weeks. Sounds like madness. The program involves running 3 days a week, ideally with a rest day between each one. The first 6 weeks is made up of mostly interval runs, running interspersed with precious recovery walks. You start by running 8 mins in 30 minutes and each week it increases until you are running for the full 30 minutes. Yup definitely madness.

Not many people do their first 5k within 30 minutes. I’m certainly expecting to have to do extra work at the end of the program before I can truly deliver a 5K. But let’s be honest C25K will get me much closer to 5K than just continuing to sit on the couch.

My motivation for doing C25K is no different to many other stories I’ve read. I was (and still am) overweight, years of working in the City and doing no form of exercise has taken it’s toll. The final straw was being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, something of a pre-disposition in the family and a national epedemic. At my heaviest weight I was more than 20 stone (300lb) at which point I was starting to find walking even modest distances a challenge.

For several reasons I ended up quitting my long standing full-time job in the City and switched to contracting which proved far more varied and more importantly far more flexible. This gave me time to start sorting out a number of things that had been on the back burner, chief amongst them my lifestyle and fitness.

So I started walking. Initially I’d struggle to walk more than a few kilometres, by the end of 6 months I was walking 20km 2-3 times a week and really enjoying it. I enjoyed the simple pleasure of being out in the fresh air, the way only someone who’s been stuck in an office for two decades (or doing jail time) can really enjoy.

The only problem with walking was it was becoming a massive time sink, something I now had plenty of but even so, it also wasn’t doing much for my fitness. I was burning calories but I wasn’t really getting any fitter, I might be sweating but I rarely got out of breath. In fact it was just becoming an exercise in chafing & blister management, something I got pretty good at.

The obvious next step for me was to to start running. I have never been a great distance runner, I was a cracking sprinter at school (a long time ago) but I have never liked distance running even back then. I don’t think I have the build for it, looking more like a rugby forward than a Kenyan elite runner. I blame the Welsh miner genes and terrible diet.

I did consider hitting the gym but I’m not a fan of walking/running on a treadmill I find it utterly mind numbing. Walking/running outside in fresh air (in the sun or in the rain) I find much more engaging, probably because it is different every time. That and it has the added bonus of being free.

The NHS in the UK had been pushing the Couch to 5k (c25k) program via various channels and it got me thinking that I might just be able to undo a lifetime of negativity about running. What I found particularly motivational was the countless vlogs of people recording their journey through the program. Even more encouraging many of these people were average Joe’s (& Jills), people who really were getting off the couch, truly unfit people like myself.

The final straw was the BBC’s coverage of the Manchester 5k. One of the short films had a very large lady who had done the program and gone on to run 10k and beyond. In the film she was in a running group with a bunch of typical fit twenty-somethings that routinely turn up in these segments, exuding health and fitness. Needless to say, they were running significantly faster than the lady the film was actually about, but like the tortoise and the hare, she just kept on plodding away. That was my “if she can do it” moment and I got out and started the program the next day.

I downloaded the OneYou C25K app from the NHS, there’s loads of apps for C25K with all kinds of advanced features, but I went with this one because it was simple and free.