Happy new year everyone, 2019 will be my first year as me so looking forwards to it. I know now is a time people make resolutions and I want to put some pointers to what I did with losing weight and running with couch to 5k. I used C25k to start running again and it worked like a charm. I am now training for the London marathon on the 28th April this year to raise money for the LGBT Foundation.
https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SofieLewis
I will try and put up a training log every week to let people know what is going on, so hopefully will have one tomorrow. Please read on and ask me any questions if you want to get going with running this year. I know how crazy a task it can seem but I’ve had a few crazy ideas in my life and going from never run to runner was the most accomplish-able ones, even if it seemed impossible. The most important thing at this stage is to get going, it requires action, so go and do it now, slow down till you think you are going too slow and then slow down again and you will be so glad you did it 😀
COUCH to 5K
Couch to 5k (C25K) is a 9 week program from the NHS that gets you from being unable to run to being able to run non-stop for 30 minutes. It takes only 3 runs per week and you will find it is incredible how fast the human body (yours!) can adapt and develop. If you are like I was, and believe you just can’t run then it is for you. Bear in mind that it is called couch to 5k, but it is really couch to running for 30 minutes, whatever distance you get don’t worry about speed.
I avoided sport at all costs at school, I told myself I just could not run. People look at me now and just assume I have always been healthy, even my family who have know me otherwise tend to say “I wish I could do that”, well heres the thing , you can. If I can, anyone can. If you are waiting for the right time, “I just want to lose some weight first”, “I want to wait until I am ready” then start now, you will never “feel ready” especially if you are like me. What is required is action, download the app and put your trainers on. You will kick yourself for not starting sooner.
This isn’t about punishing yourself or proving anything (unless you want it to be) if you try this you are extremely like to find running becomes very enjoyable and find it will become a hobby of yours that you can’t live without. If you like going on walks in nature, you will love running.
At first it will feel hard, you are learning something new, people think running means running at full speed, or running as fast as someone else. This is not true, when you think about going for a run think about it like going for a walk, you hardly ever walk at full speed whenever you go for a walk. If it feels too hard, slow down. When you have slowed down, slow down again! If you feel like you could walk faster, or like you are jogging, that is OK just keep going.
What will happen is, you download the app or podcast, go out for the run, the podcast or app will tell you when to start and stop running. If you get the podcast, then enjoy Laura talking you through each week and enjoy the running. In the first week for example you do the warmup walk, then Laura will tell you to run for one minute, after this she tells you to walk for 1.5 mins and you repeat.
Here are some links to get started,
Explanation of C25K on NHS website
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/get-running-with-couch-to-5k/
The actual C25k program in written form, you can also download as a podcast, or download an app from itunes or google play. This page also outlines the program week by week
http:// https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/couch-to-5k-week-by-week/
A forum for people doing C25K, pleas use this, the people are extremely nice and always encouraging. Sign up and post about your progress to stay motivated. This helped me get through it
https://healthunlocked.com/couchto5k
In my time on the forum I have seen people in their 70’s and 80’s starting couch to 5k and falling in love with running, who had never run a day in their life
Parkrun
Parkrun is awesome, it is a relatively recent thing and is revolutionising how people see running, it is completely non-competitive. It is a free weekly (Saturday at 9:00 in England other times elsewhere) 5k walk/jog/run. You sign up, get a free barcode and get a time. People now travel all over the world to take part in different parkruns and it gets very addictive.
If you want a goal why not try to run a parkrun after graduating C25k, find a parkrun near you, it’s addictive and free! In fact I wouldn’t even wait till you finish c25k, people walk run and jog parkrun, and a volunteer always tail walks so you will never come last so do it even if you walk the whole thing, lots of people do, or do one of the c25k runs at parkrun.
http:// http://www.parkrun.org.uk/events/events/
The hardest thing about running is getting your trainers on and going out of the door, that is still true for me. Even after hours fretting about wheather to go out or not, I have never once regretted going for a run, there will never be a time when it “feels right” to start C25K, so just go for it. Do it as an experiment. Slow down and enjoy it. It’s the best thing I ever did. Don’t let another year go around without trying it.
I am going to try and put a post up each week about my training for the London Marathon, I am running for the LGBT foundation and you can find the donation page here
Sans Shoelaces 
Awesome post, Sofie! Thank you for sharing! 🦉
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