Just struggling to believe I can do this...
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kirdyq
Posts: 165 Member
I have always wanted to "be able to run." There are so many people I know that do 5k's and run and whatnot, I would love to be able to participate. A looooong time ago I used to be in track, but I ran sprints. I would usually run a mile at the most back in my track days (which was, like, 15 years ago!). I am just in week 1 of this program so I know that I cannot pass judgements yet and that I just need to stick with it. But I'm having a really hard time wrapping my mind around ever being able to run three miles straight. I just feel like it's never going to happen!!! I really haven't done any meaningful exercise in years, and have had a couple kids in the past five years. I am not overweight and have a pretty lean frame, but some pounds are starting to come on due to recent poor eating habits. I want to get through this 1) to tone back up and 2) be able to participate in runs. But I am just sooo tired and kinda sore today. Will this really be able to happen!?!?!
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I started last December. I was 40 pounds over weight and had a baby in 2010 and another in 2011. I've never been able to run. Not when I was a kid and not now. Every time I tried it sucked. I couldn't keep it up for even a minute, it hurt and I couldn't breathe. It made me feel sick and dizzy. I don't have fast twitch muscle fibers. I have exercise induced asthma. My left foot pronates inward. I'd gotten to a point where I couldn't even WALK three miles and especially not pushing a stroller.
The thing is that I needed something that I could do while pushing a stroller and walking wasn't cutting it in the time I had before the kids got bored. I KNEW I was going to fail the C25k program but I wanted to see how far I could get before all my flaws caught up with me. At least I'd get into enough shape to walk a 5k.
I graduated in February.
I ran my first running 5k in March. I ran the entire way pushing a double stroller. 40:40.
I ran my first 10k in June. 1:05:57.
You CAN do this. I'm 100% sure of this. You don't even need to believe this now. You just need to get out there every other day and do what the program tells you to do. Run as SLOWLY as you can (as slowly as you walk). Go to a running store and get fitted for shoes. That's it.0 -
Come back in 9 weeks and tell me that you can't do it. Honestly, hard as it may be to believe right now your body is more than capable but your mind just needs to catch up with that.
I used to run regularly a couple of years ago but my friend hasn't run since she was around 12 years old. At the moment she is around three stones overweight and at the end of April I had to physically push her up a hill so that she would complete the running segments in week one. Yesterday, she graduated and ran for 30 minutes! As I said to her the whole way through, if you think you are going as slow as you can go, slow down. Right now your pace isn't important- what you want is to cover the time allocated. Pace will come with practice.
Feel free to add me if you have any questions or just need some virtual encouragement.
Good luck and enjoy!0 -
I just finished Week 5, the 20 minute run was today.
When I started I was 80 lbs overweight. I haven't run voluntarily for 40 years! In my teens and early 20's I seemed to always have a sprained ankle. I found out later that I had broken it sometime early during that period which now explains why it was so weak. I was terrified to run, or ice skate which I was good at as a child, as I always seemed to fall and skin my palms and knees as well as sprain my ankle. So I didn't. I did no sports.
I've recently decided that a fit person in my eyes is able to walk quickly, jog, and/or run for a bit with friends. Spending my life afraid to run was giving myself a handicap that was holding me back from being that fit person.
I went to the running store and explained to the girl there that I wanted to run, but was afraid about my ankle, which I have not sprained in 30 years, but had once been weak. She carefully picked out running shoes for me and had me walk in a number of styles until she was satisfied.
The first week was hard. Raspy breath, rubber legs, and inability to believe that I could keep at it for 60 seconds, let along, 3, 5, or 8 minutes. Also the fear that I would fall and hurt myself. I kept going. I always made sure I wore my "Magic shoes" that had been picked out for me. At the end of week 4, I decided to run one run in my Viabram 5-finger shoes. I was successful and didn't fall and hurt myself. It was a one time experiment, but it gave me confidence that while the new running shoes are good and will help me prevent future injuries, I can run without them if I need to, for short distances.
Five weeks into C25K and I can say to myself, "You are a runner" and I plan to finish the program and keep at it and even run a real 5K in the Fall to prove to myself that I have acheived one of my goals.
You can do this!!
Oh, spend the money and get good shoes somewhere where they can fit the right ones to you! They really do make a difference.0 -
I'm feeling the same way so I really appreciate this thread. I feel like I'm never going to be able to run for longer than 60 seconds but I'm determined that when I start week 2 on Monday, I WILL run for 90 seconds. it will be at my walking pace, but i will pick up my feet and jog and get through those 90 seconds. There's no reason I can't. i have the shoes, I've been working out hard for weeks now so I have the strength, I just need the confidence and the desire. We can do this!0
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Bound4beauty...yes we're in it together!
thanks for the support everyone- I really appreciate it! 0 -
You CAN do this. I'm 100% sure of this. You don't even need to believe this now. You just need to get out there every other day and do what the program tells you to do. Run as SLOWLY as you can (as slowly as you walk). Go to a running store and get fitted for shoes. That's it.
^^this!
The running slowly part is probably going to be the most critical for you, since you were a sprinter. Go slow to make the distance/interval...you can speed back up later. Go slower than you possibly think you could go and then go a little bit slower.
Also, don't get impatient and rush the program...trust it!
I started running at 224 pounds...I have asthma...and I have never been athletic...and I've always been overweight/obese. I just ran my first 5K race today in 36:39 (still at 188 pounds but losing it steadily). You CAN do it!0
