Thursday 12 April 2012

Thoughts On My Journey to Fitness

Ok, so I set up this blog after having a particularly disappointing morning. Today's visit to the world of fitness was meant to be Couch to 5k week 5 run 2 but I couldn't complete it and came home feeling very sorry for myself. I sought solace in the C25k community http://couchto5k.healthunlocked.com/ and indeed received much support from them - enough to keep me from reaching for a bar of chocolate anyway - and my three daughters were amazing but it still hurt.
I realise you don't know much about me yet so I will drip feed information as I post more updates (don't want to frighten you off before I've even got started do I?) I am 48 and somehow found myself 5 stone overweight with painful joints and no energy. My eldest daughter, Eve, turned 21 in February and this June I will have been married to Ian for 25 years. Suffice it to say I started to feel my age and something just snapped. ENOUGH! I said to myself, and so it began - my journey to fitness.
I went for brisk walks to begin with and that was challenging enough but I wanted more. I took up swimming and signed up for the Big Splash Sport Relief Mile Swim which was crazy since I have bad ears and haven't swum in 30 years. Undeterred, I got ear moulds made at the audiology clinic and jumped in. I watched videos to relearn how to swim breast stroke and followed the training plan. It  is going really well and I have already reached my target of 64 lengths so I will swim on 27th April with every confidence of completing the challenge.
Onward and upward then, I joined a gym and went to my first pilates class. I am as stiff as a board and have no balance whatsoever so I thought it would help. It does too, although I have had a few embarrassing moments falling over because I can't stand on one leg. I tried a yoga class but the least said about that the better! I will have to revisit that when I can bend my knees a little more than 90 degrees.
And so to running, well jogging. I came across the NHS Couch to 5k programme which promises to get anybody from walking to running 30 minutes in just nine weeks. I thought this was unachievable for me (what with my dodgy knees and all) but hey ho I decided to give it a go. Why not - everything else has been going well? I downloaded the free podcasts from iTunes and bought some new running shoes.
I wasn't silly enough to sign up for a 5k race, but I set about the programme with confidence and up to today I have managed every run. So it was a big shock to the system that I couldn't complete my run today. I did have a cold but I felt ok I was supposed to run for 2x8 mins with a 5 minute recovery walk in the middle. I got half way through the second run when I just stopped and couldn't continue. It was my first hiccup on my journey and it has knocked my confidence.
What have I learnt today? I will have ups and downs on my journey but I must lift myself up and carry on. Nothing worth achieving comes easily and I will get there. I have big plans - climbing Ben Nevis, doing a 5k parkrun, doing a novice triathlon (when I start cycling), white water rafting, karate ...
Watch this space!

2 comments:

  1. Here's wishing you well with your journey. You're right, there will be ups and downs but overall you'll have nothing to regret and everything to gain. Having said that, the only regret for me is not starting sooner!
    Best wishes
    Doug (and Mrs Ramblings)

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