Getting Back Into It

Paully D

Hi all,

Thought I might as well set up this log to keep track of my progress and hopefully it may also help someone who wants to get back into running after a while out?

Some background:

Basically, after playing sport for years from my early childhood to my late teens I got sick of it all (all the training, never having any free time to myself, falling behind in exams because of it etc) and decided to pack it in. A few years later I regret all of that of course and should have kept at it, but anyway I piled on the weight. That brings us to around March 2011.

Around April of last year I grew tired of being lazy and found about the Couch to 5K programme after reading about it on here. I said to myself I'd give it a go. It worked perfectly and I kept going and going. I went back to being quite fit and being able to run around 12K without any hassle (albeit fairly slow).

Here's a couple of posts from firstly May and then July of last year about my progess with the 5K programme:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=72039573&postcount=643

I've decided to skip ahead as I've been able to complete 25 minute runs over the last few days. I'll stick at that for a while and when I build that up to 30 minutes then I'll look at the 10k plan and possible create my own log.

This programme was a big help for me as within a month it helped get me from being stuck in front of the computer/tv etc and not being able to run 5 minutes, to running 25 minutes and wanting to go out and do more and more running each and every day. I think I've caught the running bug now!

The fact that I used to be quite active and did play a bit of football etc meant that it didn't take me too long to get back into the swing of things once I got going, but without the C25K I wouldn't have made that step. Everyone progresses at different rates though so stick with it even if you're not encouraged, the results after the 9 weeks will be brilliant.

Good luck to everyone on this programme and keep it up! All the best.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=73538731&postcount=702

Hi all,

Just thought I'd drop in to update my progress since I made the above post almost 3 months ago as it will hopefully serve as motivation for those currently doing this as to what can be achieved.

After making the above posts I stuck with 5K runs for a few weeks and then decided I'd move on to the 10K. It was a huge struggle at first, especially after being so inactive for such a long period of time, but I stuck at it and completed that.

I've recently completed my first 12K road race (in a time of 1 hr 5 minutes) and I'm running up to 36K a week. I've had numerous comments from people about how much weight I've lost and I feel great. I've adjusted my diet, stuck to the running, and it's going superbly!

I started the Couch to 5K programme in mid April and at that stage I could barely run 15 minutes without needing to stop, now it's the opposite - I can't stop running!

Keep it up and the very best of luck to all!

Unfortunately at the end of summer circumstances for me changed. I picked up an ligament injury playing football and other commitments took over, then the dark winter nights set in and that was the end of the running. I have gone from running 36K + a week and down to about 13 stone, to running nothing at all and back up to around the weight I was before I started the Couch to 5K, 14 stone 10.

But, good news for me - I'm free for the summer and am determined to get back to the way I had been going last summer! My first goal is that same 12K race, but I aim to do it in 60 minutes or less this time, rather than the 65 minutes it took last year. I'd also like to be down to around 13 stone by the end of the summer.

So, I hope those who need a bit of inspiration and/or motivation can see how easy it can be done to go from barely running to running decent distances with a bit of patience and persistence and I hope to be able to document that here.

What I will do is the same as I did last year. Run every second day, start off with small distances and gradually increase as I go along.

Thanks for reading. Here we go

First run of the summer was today:

2.01 miles in a time of 18 minutes and 40 seconds. Handy enough pace but the sun was belting down which made it difficult.

Current weight - 14st 10

Next run Thursday 17th May

doledude86

Good man Paully, try be consistent this time round, I know how it is getting back into it after awhile out but its all worth it, ill follow your thread so hope i see developments

Paully D

Was feeling a bit under the weather today (think it's my body adjusting to my new diet etc) but decided to throw the gear on anyway and see what happens. Ended up doing the same distance today:

2.01 miles in a time of 17 minutes 40 seconds

60 seconds faster than 2 days ago. Happy with that! Going to probably do the same distance again on my next run on Saturday before increasing distance.

Paully D

Forgot to update this:

2 miles done on Saturday. Got 2.5 miles done on Monday and will be aiming to increase that again on Wednesday.

Paully D

4 miles done in a little over 40 minutes. Struggled a lot near the end but I'm getting there. I usually do that route in around 36/37 minutes when I'm back to fitness.