Running goal

At the end of 2015 a keen runner at work sent an email out saying he would be starting a running club on Wednesdays after work. We would be starting the c25k program the first week of January. I was tempted to sign up but I tried running (c25k) a few years ago and it was really tough, after 60 seconds I could barely walk.

Around about the same time, I went for my 40 year health check (in the UK you go for a free health check when you turn 40 and they check your bloods and urine etc). A few days later I received a letter from my doctors to go in for the results, and I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. This didn't come as a great surprise as my diet was bad and I had previously been told I was pre-diabetic.

After my doctors appointment I decided it would be a great idea to sign up for the running club - I needed to change my diet and get some form of exercise so I thought I would give running another go. I was committed.

I thought I would get a head start so I completed week 1 on my own, a week before the running club started. It was really tough, I've never been able to run and I found it really hard running for 60 seconds without stopping. The following week we started the running club - there was around 15 - 20 of us for the first week and the first thing I noticed is it was easier that doing it on my own, mainly because the pace was slower (which was a great help).

Over the next few weeks I was running every Monday on my own, Wednesday with the club, then Friday or Saturday on my own, sticking to the C25k program but keeping my pace at a comfortable rate. Unfortunately the running club numbers dropped to around 5 consistent members.

Week 7 of the program I ran 5k on the Monday, 7.5k on the Wednesday and 8.9k on the Friday. On week 9 we had agreed to do a park run of 5k which is the target of c25k (5k by the end of week 9) however there was only 2 of us doing it, so I suggested we did a 10k event that was being held in our area. We did the 10k and I completed it in around 1hr 5 mins.

Since then I have completed a few 10k's as well as much smaller runs, increasing my pace on the smaller ones. When I signed up for the club I had no idea that I would ever be able to run 10k - It was really tough at the beginning. And as a bonus I have also lost weight. I have no idea how much but I will find out when I go back for my 3 month check up.

If I have any advise to give to new runners it would be...

Take your time - this is the main reason I found it so hard at the beginning - I was trying to hard. You should be running as slow as you can to begin with, especially if you are finding it difficult. Speed will come over time.

Stick to a routine - You should set which days you are going to run and stick to it come rain or shine. If you start putting runs off until the following day you will fall behind quickly.

Take your music - If you are running on your own listening to music helps loads, but also try to avoid fast music as you may try and increase your speed to run in time to the beat.

Run with others- it is much easier to run if you have someone to run with - you don't have to run along side them, if they are faster you stick to your pace and let them go off ahead, don't try to keep up.

Change your route - Try and mix up the route as much as possible - running the same route all the time can get really boring really fast. Most of my running has been around the streets near my house so mixing it up has helped.

Use an app to log your runs - I use Strava to log all my runs which is great as you can look back on week 1 and see how much your pace has increased. I also used the C25K app.

I hope the above tips helps you succeed with your running, and you can see my Strava page where you can view my progress and check out all of my C25K runs right from the beginning.https://strava.com/athletes/2168084