Who has gone from never running to 5k? Need success stories to motivate me!

[BananaGio]

Did my first run/walk today and am horrified by how unfit I am! I have never been a big one for exercise and have never ever been a runner but am pushing 40 and decided enough is enough. Can anyone give me hope by telling me how they too were once like me and now they are proper runners??

Banana, you need to build it up slowly. I have a beginners chart, but it's in Italian, would it be ok, I can link you to it.

Hi Franca yes that would be great , I didn't know you were a runner!

No, I'm not, but thinking of starting . I'm waiting for the weather to be a bit more friendly (very cold here in milan at the mo). A friend of mine started about 2 yrs ago and he is now running marathons

here

I used to be like you. Didn't run, didn't do any exercise really,w as overweight. Then I went to the gym, got a bit fitter and started running. I am slow, but I have done 4 marathons, about 10 half marathons and umpteen other distances.

YOU CAN DO IT.

Start out slowly, build up gradually, rest when your body tells you and remember that your mental attitude is a big part of whether you can get out there and do it. I went from not running to doing a marathon in less than a year, so it's absolutely possible. Check out www.runnersworld.co.uk for advice, beginners' programmes etc.

Good luck and just enjoy!!!

oooh these are the stories I need to hear. How long did it take you SweetestThing before you really started noticing a difference in your fitness levels?

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robert makes it very easy and achievable

Banana, I went to the gym for about a year before I started running, but I could have gone after about 3 or 4 months as my fitness had improved considerably by then (I started from a low base!). My DH tried to persuade me to go out running with him but I always refused, thinking I wouldn't like it, but when I did go, it took me only 3 runs to decide this was a sport for me (just like rubyrubyruby says ).

Do make sure you get a good sports bra and running shoes that suit your running style - any good sports shop will pop you on the treadmill and analyse your gait, then recommend the best shoes to stop you getting blisters, getting injured etc.

I did it a few years ago. Started off following some programme where I ran a min/walked a min for 30mins and built up the running times. I trained for about 6 months and did my first 5k in 27mins.

I found getting an ipod and listening to music while I ran was a big help.

I've since gone on to do a 10k and ran the whole way.

Definetly run slow, as slow as you can without walking. Just keep going, you'll do it.

not to want to put a downer on the thread but also don't be incredibly put off if you can't do it

I have tried the couch to 5km thing at least 5 times and I still can't run one km. I'm not that overweight (could probably do with losing half a stone/stone) and I'm unfit but not amazingly unfit (can manage a davina dvd) but no matter how hard I try, I cannot run.

I do love walking though (and swimming) so focus on doing that!

I really just don't think everyone was built to be a runner

fox, it's not for everyone, running - some people just don't enjoy it, find it boring, too monotonous. I found running with music helped (stopped me focussing on the hard breathing and the slap of my feet on the ground!).

I truly believed 5 years ago that I couldn't run but I CAN. 5k is an excellent target - I can't urge you strongly enough to keep at it! It gets better - and FAST, as Ruby says.

Find a programme - it's amazing what a difference it makes (e.g. doing interval training did wonders for my overall 5k time). Running websites have lots for all fitness levels.

I'm still not a good runner: fox is right that not everyone is built for it. I still can't do 5k in less than 30 minutes (not even close to be honest). But I can run 10k now which I thought impossible and best of all I now LOVE it. (Ipod definitely helps.)

And my sister who also thought she couldn't run is doing the London marathon this April!

Start slow, do walk/run intervals as well as longer runs (follow a programme if you can), get an ipod and a decent bra and trainers...it's SO WORTH IT.

I went from never running to running for an hour and covering just 8km - but was happy with that.

Not sure if I am a "proper runner" (plus have not been out since end of NOv..) but have always done "a bit" of running. Well done for going out today! I have 3 suggestions, 2 easy, 1 more difficult:

1. Go out regularly, even if you don't go as far as you wanted, at least you will feel you have done something, and will encourage you to do more.....

2. Write down what you have done - eg the route and the time taken. The time is of no importance to anyone but you, but if you run next week the same route as you have done today but a minute quicker you will feel good. Of course you may run it slower too... Even if you don't want to record the time taken, record the fat that you have been out, seeing the list slowly building up is a great source of encouragement for me!

3. Do you have a friend to run with? I used to run with a friend once a week, she lived 10 miles away so running was a good opportunity to have a natter. If you have a commitment to run with someone you are less likely to wimp out (I found this anyway)

Are your DCs at school? I find that my "best" time to run was straight away after taking them to school. then the rest of the day was "mine" - for woking (from home), house work, shopping, whatever. IF I don't do the running first it doesn't get done. Tricky though if you go out to work!

Have you tried looking at a running magazine? Noticed new one in Tesco recently specifically for women. Don't know if any good but may have a few tips there...

I actually don't know Ruby. Just didn't want Banana to feel totally demoralised. The first time I tried it and didn't succeed, I felt so demoralised, I almost gave up exercising all together but I had everyone telling me it was so easy and what was wrong with me that I couldn't do it etc. etc., made me feel quite shite tbh lol.

I have very short legs for my body. I am 5'6'' but can only fit into short length trousers or petite trousers and even then, my thighs are long and my calves v short which does mean my legs get incredibly tired v quickly when I'm running. At school, I used to be able to sprint and hurdle and do things like javelin because my legs are strong but could never run much further than a short sprint without feeling my legs were totally knackered so I suspect they are strong but not v good on long runs. I can swim long distances (having said all that) but I think my body proportions make less of a difference in the pool iyswim!

I think there's a different fitness to say running than there is to swimming and I've never had running fitness. What always surprises me is that I can do those fitness videos but I think a lot of it is just strength rather than stamina and it's the stamina I'm bad it iyswim.

I did couch to 5k last year. I started my little runs in May and in September I ran teh race for life, non stop, in 39 mins 56 seconds.
Reeeeaaally slow, but I didn't stop, and I didn't die. Both things I were convinced would happen after the first few runs.
It is really shocking how much easier it gets, you will find that you feel you can go a little bit further each time and I cna still remember coming home to DH and DD's after running for 20 minutes non-stop and bursting into tears I was so proud of myself

(I also wept after the 5k. Am such a loser)

I did couch to 5K with Robert, starting in July last year.

In April 2009 I weighed 11 stone. I bought a rebounder and went on it at home three times a week, while at the same time starting to lose some of the weight by calory counting and using www.foodfocus.co.uk

Once I had lost a few pounds and was starting to feel less self-conscious, I started Couch25K and finished it in mid-September. I carried on running, aiming to run 5K each time instead of the 30 minutes of the pod cast, which gradually brought my 5K time down.

Before the snow (I can't believe how frustrated I was at not being able to run for nearly two weeks!) my PB for 5K was 30mins 50 seconds, but average closer to 32.

I aim to run three times a week: two shorter runs of 5K, and I'm now doing a longer run each Sunday to stretch me gradually to 10K by the end of March. I've managed 7.5 so far, and I am now just over 9.5 stone and for the first time in my adult life am within sight of a normal BMI.

Go for it. Don't look at what you ran last week, look at last month. Don't worry about repeating weeks, or some days being not as good as others.

I was crap at sport at school and never in my wildest dreams ever saw myself as a runner. But I am, and it's damn empowering! Good luck.

PS If anyone seems you in the street, remember that they don't know that you have in fact only just been running for 90 seconds and not 90 miles! So don't worry. Everyone out there (IME) is friendly and supportive.

Keep going!
I did it at the age of 41 - I still remember the first time I ran 5 mins and thought I would die!

I can run for an hour now easily and it didn't take long.
And I love it!

Thanks for all the advice! You are giving me hope! I don't think will ever be an amazing runner-am not built for it. I have those short calves you said about fox - but I have had so many years/decades of starting exercise and making excuses not to continue I have just got to do it! This is the first time I really want to do it for fitness purposes rather than aesthetics as well so am hoping that will help motivate me more. With running it means I can't moan about the cost (as I did re gym), the time taken out getting there and back (ditto gym, aerobics), hassles drying hair (swimming)and so on. I live in a nice climate in Rome so can't dodge it due to weather! Plus I have a stressful job and I think the half hour blocking everything out bar my Ipod will do me good mentally as well. Finally I work from home and ds is in school every morning so my idea is drop him off and go immediately 3 mornings a week before I start work. So there are all the reasons why have got to believe that it will get easier than today when I thought was going to collapse and couldn't believe how long a minute took to pass!

New Years Day some years ago I went out for a run and managed 2 mins. I was so horrified that I started to train in earnest. In March of that year I ran a half marathon. OK, I did come second last out of a field of over 1000 and I was trailed by the St John's ambulance for the last few miles, but I bloody did it.

A few years later I went from running 40 mins around Christmas time, to running the London Marathon four months later. One of the greatest (and at the same time completely hideous) events of my life so far.

Keep going. Tis great!

I signed up to The Race for Life, when people started sponsoring me, I had to get into it. The event itself was really fun, and great to be part of.

I used to really struggle with breathing (I couldn't do it) but I started slowly with intervals of walking and running. My ipod made the biggest difference - I'd walk one song, run one song, then I'd walk run, run two, until I was running properly. I made an upbeat running playlist (it had The Jam, Blondie, and Girls Aloud ) but it really helped. Like you, I'm pushing 40.

There's a book on Amazon which might help - Running Made Easy.

Girls Aloud are great for running to, as are Green Day and any glam rock from the 70s

I didn't start running till I was 46 and did my first marathon at that age, so at pushing 40 you are a spring chicken, banana! I so envy you running in Rome - my favourite city!

noooo don't envy me SweetestThing- all the Roman women joggers are perfectly turned out, 8 stone running machines. I really didn't cut it today with my bright red face, falling down pony tail, DP's Tshirt and primark joggers
This evening I am going to create a playlist for my Ipod