How i ran 5 km for the first time ever in my life

3 months ago....

August,2014. My stamina was so awful that barely a jog of half a kilometer would force me to start panting heavily and eventually i had to bring my body to rest.

Sometime ago in past, i had come across a running schedule 'C25K (Couch to 5 K)' that was designed to help complete beginners to leave couch and run 30mins within 2 months. It is a 9 week schedule of 27 workouts, each workout contains alternate jog and walk periods. As the weeks pass, the jog to walk time ratio keep on increasing and eventually the last workout contains jog of 30 mins without any walk. The C25K schedule looked well planned . So, i decided to follow it.

One of my colleagues also showed interest and decided to start this schedule. But we were to run at different places as his home is quite far from my place. So, that evening i went home, completed the first day of the C25k program and sent him a message, "Workout 1 done". Very next morning i received his message, "Workout 1 done". This is how it all got started.

2 months ago....

September,2014. During initial few weeks, the running periods of the workouts were quite uncomfortable. We shared our progress and experiences with each other and that kept us motivated to keep running. I do not think we would have come this far without each other's support. Meanwhile, i also happened to read Christopher Mcdougall's book 'Born to run' that completely changed my approach towards running. I had now started to believe that Humans are evolved to run and running long distances is one of our basic qualities. I would recommend this book to anyone who has interest in running.

A month ago...

October,2014. Few more weeks passed. This period i believe proved to be the turning point. Running was becoming more and more natural. Initial days of uncomfortable runs were getting over and i had started to enjoy running. I was experiencing tremendous difference in my moods before and after run. Post run moments felt so blissful that anger, jealousy, frustration,etc seemed to be unknown emotions. Running felt like a great stress buster. Running was becoming a kind of obsessing hobby. I started hating rest days and waited for workout days to go and enjoy the run.

I have never been a runner. All my life i have been a lazy boy. During all those college athletic meets i used to see runners running lap after lap and not showing any sign of tiredness on their faces. All those runners looked so formidable that i used to feel that running was not my cup of tea.


November 15,2014:- Few more weeks had passed, I had slowly kept progressing and increased the distance of my runs gradually. when i was running, only thing in my mind was to run 5km without stopping. When i finally completed my first ever 5km i felt elated and confident. I was not tired at all and could have run some more distance. I jogged the whole distance very slow (i.e. in 42:23 min) . I am concentrating only on covering more and more distance at easy pace as this has been recommended for beginners all over the internet.

I have only been running for 3 months now and it is incredible to observe how the body is adapting physically and how running has influenced my overall attitude and lifestyle in such a short span of time. My resting heartbeat has come down from 85-90 to 70-75. Running form has improved. I feel more confident not just while running but also during all other daily activities. I am more disciplined. Will power has increased. I have never loved and respected my body the way i love now. I take more care of how and what i feed to my body. I stay more active and aware while talking to others. The list can go on and on... I have learnt endless number of things from running. Running has brought a big transformation in my lifestyle and overall behavior. I recommend running to everyone as I myself wish to keep running for the rest of my life.

I wish to run atleast one half marathon in 2015. Now that i have run 5km, i am looking forward to run upto 10km in next 3 months...