Running

Remember when I said I had started doing some exercise? Well I meant it.

I completed that 'Couch to 5k' podcast. Granted it took longer than nine weeks, but I got there and started listening to other podcasts when I went out running. I can't help but rave about how much it has done for me. I got one of my friends hooked too - I overheard her telling someone how she never liked PE at school ...
I think something should be done about PE. It's still not working is it?  

Anyway. I wanted a challenge so I entered the Cancer Research UK Race for Life with my Mum. Race for Life is a 5k course that you can run or walk for the charity. We ran the whole thing! I was amazed and it felt great. Plus we raised some money for a good cause. (Thank you everyone who sponsored us.)

Since then I've kept up my running and started running a bit further.

I wanted another challenge so I entered a 10k race. I had three months to double how far I could run. I wasn't sure I could do it - but on the day I ran every step. I can now run for over an hour.

Check out my medal collection ;) It really goes to show what you can do when you put your mind to it.

Getting healthy

One of my goals this year is to work on getting more healthy. I'd like to lose a bit of weight too, but that's not specifically my aim. I'd like to eat less processed food, make better choices and do more exercise.

Exercise has always been a big issue for me. I'm not good at sport and I always hated PE at school. This really didn't set me up for a lifetime of good habits, actually apart from a couple of ill-fated attempts at going to a gym, I've pretty much ignored it. The problem was always that I couldn't actually do the tasks. At the gym, they'd say, 'then jog for ten minutes' TEN MINUTES! I had no clue how people did that.

Finally I realised I needed to learn how to do exercise from a more basic level. In the same way you have to learn cooking. It's all well and good to have a recipe, but if you don't know what boil or whisk means? It's not going to work.

That's when I found this: NHS Couch to 5k plan.
It's a series of podcasts which guide you from doing nothing to being able to jog 5k (about 3 miles) after nine weeks.

It starts you off running for 60 seconds at a time. The first week I even found that difficult, but I quickly learnt that breathing in enough air is one of the most important elements. Getting out of breath, amongst other things, was why I couldn't do ten minutes on a treadmill. Each week the amount of running you do builds up, you run for a bit then walk for a bit to recover. The podcast tells you when to speed up and when you can slow down again.

I can now run for 25 minutes in a row. I'll admit that it's taken much longer than nine weeks - some things got in the way. But I'm getting there.

I really recommend you give it a go if you want to get moving, it's free to download, so what have you got to lose?