NSV - I ran 20 minutes today....
Elleinnz
Posts: 1,661 Member
On 6 September 2010 I made my way back into the gym in my quest to reclaim my health and fitness, and hopefully lose some weight in the process.
At that point in my life I was extremely out of shape - I weighed in at 149.1kg at my first weigh-in in many years......and even basic walking was a challenge for me....
My office was 1.5 km from my home and I actually drove to work every morning - on a really adventurous day I would take the bus, and then huff and puff my the last 200 metres up the hill to my office (today I realise it is not actually even a hill - just a slight incline (1 or 2 incline ;-))
My first day in the gym I had to do 3 minutes on the elliptical - and at the end of that I was totally bushed!! I had constant knee and back pain and very dodgy shoulders, so my poor trainer had all these “constraints” within which he had to try and help me get fit!!
Slowly “we” (Alex my trainer) pushed my bodies boundaries, and for months my motto was “Blood, Sweat and Voltaren!!” but things were moving long quite nicely....
Over the months I have been getting a lot stronger, and around May this year I told my trainer that I am now in a different place physically, and I want to start training as an “athlete” not a rehabilitation “patient” any longer.....be careful what you ask for :-)
I loved being able to push my fitness boundaries - I bought a mountain bike, started using the zumba DVD’s that had been gathering dust for the past year, and trained like a strong woman in the gym...... I was still not a big fan of any full on aerobic exercise, but did some of it because it was good for me :-)
About a month ago some crazy woman that now lives in my house decided that the next challenge would be C25K - who is this woman - and where did she come from?? I have never, and I really mean never in my adult life ran anywhere - not even for the ice cream truck - and had absolutely no desire to run.... so where did this come from....??
I still have no idea why I decided to do it - other than it was a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) and I thrive on those ......When I told my son what I was doing his reaction was “you are not really a couch potato any longer” meaning “this might be easy for you” - god I love the blind faith he has in his mother’s new found abilities!!
So fast forward to today - I was planning to run week 3 day 2 of C25K tomorrow - which means run 3 minutes / walk 3 minutes, run 90 seconds / walk 90 seconds....repeat twice....
This morning after another kick butt muscle building session with my trainer..... at the end of the session I normally do another 15 minutes reasonably “gentle” pedaling on the stationary bike, but today the 2 bikes we have at the gym was in use when we finished our session.....
So now that I am a “runner” I thought that I would do a little 5 minute run while I wait for the guys to get off the bikes.....
5 minutes went by quite quickly, and the guys were still on the bikes, so I kept on going - and very soon I hit the 10 minute mark and my HR was beating at 160.... so body was not stressing too much, and I decided to keep going another little bit...
By the 15 minute mark my HR was still steady at 160, and the 2 km mark was getting closer, so I just kept going - at 20 minutes and 15 seconds I hit the 2.5 km mark, and decided to call it a day.....
The amazing thing was that I still had some gas in the tank, but also realised that my body will most probably know about it later, so it was a good idea to leave some more milestones for another day :-)
Here I am - from a rehabilitation “patient” in September last year to running 2.5 km in 20 minutes - I keep being amazed at how far I have come......and I love every minute of my new active lifestyle :-)
One new goal at a time I plan to conquer those mountains, oceans and walks that is still waiting to be conquered....
For any “newbie” reading this - you might not think it is possible right now, but keep pushing every day, every week and after a few months you will start reaping the benefits of your hard work and dedication - it can and will happen - if you want it bad enough!!
At that point in my life I was extremely out of shape - I weighed in at 149.1kg at my first weigh-in in many years......and even basic walking was a challenge for me....
My office was 1.5 km from my home and I actually drove to work every morning - on a really adventurous day I would take the bus, and then huff and puff my the last 200 metres up the hill to my office (today I realise it is not actually even a hill - just a slight incline (1 or 2 incline ;-))
My first day in the gym I had to do 3 minutes on the elliptical - and at the end of that I was totally bushed!! I had constant knee and back pain and very dodgy shoulders, so my poor trainer had all these “constraints” within which he had to try and help me get fit!!
Slowly “we” (Alex my trainer) pushed my bodies boundaries, and for months my motto was “Blood, Sweat and Voltaren!!” but things were moving long quite nicely....
Over the months I have been getting a lot stronger, and around May this year I told my trainer that I am now in a different place physically, and I want to start training as an “athlete” not a rehabilitation “patient” any longer.....be careful what you ask for :-)
I loved being able to push my fitness boundaries - I bought a mountain bike, started using the zumba DVD’s that had been gathering dust for the past year, and trained like a strong woman in the gym...... I was still not a big fan of any full on aerobic exercise, but did some of it because it was good for me :-)
About a month ago some crazy woman that now lives in my house decided that the next challenge would be C25K - who is this woman - and where did she come from?? I have never, and I really mean never in my adult life ran anywhere - not even for the ice cream truck - and had absolutely no desire to run.... so where did this come from....??
I still have no idea why I decided to do it - other than it was a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) and I thrive on those ......When I told my son what I was doing his reaction was “you are not really a couch potato any longer” meaning “this might be easy for you” - god I love the blind faith he has in his mother’s new found abilities!!
So fast forward to today - I was planning to run week 3 day 2 of C25K tomorrow - which means run 3 minutes / walk 3 minutes, run 90 seconds / walk 90 seconds....repeat twice....
This morning after another kick butt muscle building session with my trainer..... at the end of the session I normally do another 15 minutes reasonably “gentle” pedaling on the stationary bike, but today the 2 bikes we have at the gym was in use when we finished our session.....
So now that I am a “runner” I thought that I would do a little 5 minute run while I wait for the guys to get off the bikes.....
5 minutes went by quite quickly, and the guys were still on the bikes, so I kept on going - and very soon I hit the 10 minute mark and my HR was beating at 160.... so body was not stressing too much, and I decided to keep going another little bit...
By the 15 minute mark my HR was still steady at 160, and the 2 km mark was getting closer, so I just kept going - at 20 minutes and 15 seconds I hit the 2.5 km mark, and decided to call it a day.....
The amazing thing was that I still had some gas in the tank, but also realised that my body will most probably know about it later, so it was a good idea to leave some more milestones for another day :-)
Here I am - from a rehabilitation “patient” in September last year to running 2.5 km in 20 minutes - I keep being amazed at how far I have come......and I love every minute of my new active lifestyle :-)
One new goal at a time I plan to conquer those mountains, oceans and walks that is still waiting to be conquered....
For any “newbie” reading this - you might not think it is possible right now, but keep pushing every day, every week and after a few months you will start reaping the benefits of your hard work and dedication - it can and will happen - if you want it bad enough!!
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Replies
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HELL YES!!!!
That's PROGRESS!!!!0 -
well done, what a motivating story!!!
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That is so awesome! I am currently in the position you started in, so it is so good to hear that you were able to succeed! Thank you for sharing with us!0
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That's brilliant - I am so happy for you! I remember how elated I felt when I first managed a 20 minute run...it's fantastic, isn't it? Congrats also on your loss thus far, you're doing so well, and your dedication is inspiring! :flowerforyou:0
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Love this! No boundaries! No limits
keep it up- you are doing Amazing! 0 -
Thats an amazing motivational story, members such as you, who understand what its like to not be able to do even basic things like walking without difficulty, certainly fill us with hope that it wont always be like this for us, and that with the tools on this site and the friendly support from the members, we will improve not only our health but also our quality of life.
Thanks for filling me with hope0 -
What a lovely, motivational, well written tale of success! Well done you!0
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Thanks all - @ Porky - oh man - those early days are still etched in my mind - can't believe how things have changed - just keep on believing - and do as much as you can every day - every little bit helps - and makes you stronger....0
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Congratulations!!!!!!!!! You should be very proud.0
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OMG I can so remember when I used to say "whats the point in running, I have a car" like it was obvious or something.....When I hit my first longest run, I almost cried and when I did 40 mins FM I was elated.....For anyone who's done this, there is an emotional wave that comes over you (unlike an orgasm :blushing: ) I reckon they must be the dolphins that ppl go on about....any way....YAY for running and no longer being fat jabbers...0
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OMG I can so remember when I used to say "whats the point in running, I have a car" like it was obvious or something.....When I hit my first longest run, I almost cried and when I did 40 mins FM I was elated.....For anyone who's done this, there is an emotional wave that comes over you (unlike an orgasm :blushing: ) I reckon they must be the dolphins that ppl go on about....any way....YAY for running and no longer being fat jabbers...
Jesus christ cheesecake, Ive done nearly 500 posts, thats 500 minutes I could have been exercising...0 -
WOW!! Waiting for the day when I can run consistently. Going to try today to see how long I can run before I get tired.:happy:0
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Love your story!!! Mine is some what similar in rehabing injuries but instead of running I really got into biking as a spin off of my rehab for my knee/leg. Funny how things workout like that eh? So now this is my 3rd stint at C25K as my previous 2 attemps were not very successfull at all. Today I just completed Week 1 with ease! Hopefully that's a good sign for things to come! And as for you, wow 20 minutes is an awsome accomplishment!! You should be very proud as you certainly deserve it!!! Wtg!0
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That is an amazing story. Genuinely inspirational, and you look so beautiful!0
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