My Couch to 5k journey – Week 2 Perseverance

Last week life threw me a curve ball which pressed pause prematurely on the couch to 5k journey.

I am the kind of person who has a go at most things, enthusiastically trying my hand at anything. My downfall is that if I find the new task too tricky or life gets in the way I give up normally around the learning phase.

I gave myself a hard time for not running last week and my first run of this week I couldn’t manage till Wednesday. My gut reaction was to give up because well…what do I do now? Should I only run twice this week? Should I try cram 3 runs in a row?

Speaking to myself:

“No. Its ok. I just pressed the pause button. My first run of week 2 will be Wednesday and now instead of my week running Monday to Sunday I will run Wednesday to Tuesday. Simple!”

Today, reluctantly, I went back out for my run. This week it’s the same format but the running sections last for 90 seconds. I found the increased running time surprisingly doable. Whereas in week 1 I was dodging muddy puddles, getting wet socks and turning my token unused running trainers from white to brown…this time was a different challenge. DON’T SLIP ON THE ICE! Streams were frozen solid, trees glittered and my breath was visible. It was a feast for the senses and definitely brushed off the cobwebs.

Today my audio guide gave me a very brief and simple instruction about breathing. I must admit I was paying far more attention to the frosty trees to even give my breathing a second thought but I imagine breathing is actually quite important when you are running? He said for every 4 steps breath in and the next 4 steps breath out. Very simple instruction but big improvement to my ability! I suddenly have rhythm, stride and a little more oomph. Wow.

When that little bell chimed to signal halfway I noticed that I was significantly further down the path then the previous week. Wahey! I have gained distance, and with that I did actually pat myself on the back (dog walkers present). I must say the last 90 second run of the sequence I struggled with and had a moment to catch my breath. Amongst the beauty and improvement I am making it is still tough work.

Everyone said that starting the couch to 5k would be the hardest – I disagree. For me maintaining this journey for 9 weeks is going to be the toughest part. But then the reality is that the majority of people wouldn’t be able to get through 9 weeks totally uninterrupted. Life happens.

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball and when it does catch it before it goes too far round the corner and out of sight. Grab it, hug it, give it a little kiss if you need to and tuck it under your arm. “Your going in the same direction as me mate” – it’s called perseverance.