Alright, full disclosure…. the observant may have already guessed this is not going to be a textile-related post, if exercise is a dirty word and weight loss / getting fitter aren’t on your 2019 wish list, I completely understand but please come back next week, I promise to have something more woolly to offer 🙂 If you struggle with your weight or maintaining your good intentions for exercise I hope you will find my story of interest….

Last January my GP informed me that my BP was on the high side, nothing to be alarmed about but something that could be improved with exercise. If I chose to do nothing about I would likely end up on medication. That combined with the weighing scales groaning every time I gingerly stepped on them and a family history of diabetes was enough to make me take some action.

So what to do about it?

When I was at school they made us run multiple laps around the rugby/football/cricket pitches two or three times a year. To say I HATED IT would be a massive understatement. I was always the last to finish (walking most of the route) and so became quite convinced I could not run, I firmly believed that for decades (amazing what they teach in schools isn’t it?!)

A few years ago I decided to challenge the label my teenage self had adopted so I started following a couch to 5k (3 miles) program, half way through the program I got stuck and just could not seem to run for longer than 10 minutes so I gave up and and a few months later tried a different program, and then another and another. You get the picture, and of course every failure was another confirmation that my teenage self was right after all.

Fast forward 6 years, to January 2018, and I found the One You C25K app, I’m not sure what changed, was it Jo Wiley’s (a well known UK radio DJ) chatty commentary in my ear, encouraging me to keep going, the nagging anxiety that my health would suffer if I didn’t do this or the structure of this plan? It was probably a combination of all three, all I can say is I am so glad found it. Out of the 6 or 7 C25K programs I have tried, this is the only one I would recommend, and unlike some of the failed programs One You is free, I have posted the link to the iPhone version above but I believe there is an Android version too.

It took me a little longer than the predicted 9 weeks but by April I was jogging (very slowly) for 30 minutes without stopping or walking. That was a major achievement for me! 🙂

Soon after posting my progress on Facebook a friend suggested I try a ParkRun. These are weekly, 5km (3 mile) events, held in parks and public spaces all over the world. Very conscious that my 30 minutes of jogging only covered 3km I wondered if I could really do it and would the teenage humiliation of being the last one to finish be publicly re-enacted? Part of me was dreading it.

I needn’t have worried, yes I was tediously slow, and out of a field of more than 400 participants I was among the last 10 to cross the finish line, but I wasn’t last! I later found out there are always some people who walk the 5km and there is always a “tail-walker”, a ParkRun volunteer who makes sure they are last to cross the finish so no-one has to suffer that indignity, no matter how slow they are.

Through ParkRun I discovered there is a very friendly and relaxed running group in my village. My first outing with them was something else I worried needlessly about. I was having nightmares about drill-sergeants shouting at me to run faster! Don’t be so lazy! etc etc. But the reality could not have been more different, Normandy Running Group are a wonderfully supportive group of people who welcome and accommodate everyone, no matter how slow.

Once I was covering 5 km, three times a week I needed a new challenge, so found a bridge to 10 km (6 miles) plan, and boy was it a challenge! It took a few tries but once I accepted that I didn’t need to run continuously for the whole 10 km I did it, I am now in the middle of a Half Marathon training plan, currently covering about 30 km a week. The big event is in March, wish me luck!

It is hard to believe how far I have come in just 365 days but if an non-runner like me can do it anyone can! I have lost 10 kg (22 lb), my BP is on the lower end of normal for my age and I look and feel so much better.

What do I wish I had known a year ago?

• take it slowly, there’s no need to run fast and try not to be bouncy when you run
• don’t be afraid to repeat some of the C25K runs if you don’t manage to complete the assigned run times, you will get stronger and it will get easier each time you repeat it
• the rest days between each run are just as important as the running days, your muscles need at least 24 hours to recover
• be brave, try new things, even if they are really scary, you’ll never know what you can achieve until you try
• give ParkRun a try, its free and everyone is so friendly and supportive they will make you feel like you are Mo Farrah!

I still find running hard but but have gone from hating it to loving it.

Did you make any New Year’s resolutions?