I am going to do it twice more as that’s what the couch to 5k plan has you do before you can call yourself a graduate, but I am sure I will manage it. I found it relatively easy.

Don’t get me wrong, when the time came to stop I was very happy to be stopping, but I reckon if I’d had another 5 minutes to go I would have pushed through and managed it.

I am not sure what my next step is – should I start entering actual 5k runs, concentrate on trying to improve my time or seeing if I can run further? Decisions Decisions.

I’m a runner!

The weight gain was indeed not a ‘real’ weight gain and came straight back off and I picked up where I left off at Couch to 5k.

Today I completed week 6 day 3 – well I say completed, I didn’t follow it exactly to the letter. I was supposed to run for 25 minutes with no walking, but did 12.30 then walked for 1 minute and then ran for 14. I struggle so much to run without stopping at all – I feel like I can’t go on if I don’t just get that little break, and I don’t need long, just a minute or so and then I can run again – but at this stage I am apparently meant to be able to run for 25 minutes without stopping so that’s what I want to do!

Week 7 consists entirely of running 25 minutes each day so hopefully after 3 more attempts at it I will be able to master it. I am going to try run that little extra before taking a break each day.

I still dislike going out and having to do it in ‘public’, but I have discovered wearing a cap is a life saver – whenever there’s a bunch of people or cars or anything I don’t like I can just hide my eyes behind the cap and feel like I am invisible.

The main thing I dislike is when someone is going in the same direction I am – because I am an extremely slow walker/runner we often do a little dance where I run passed them, then they walk passed me while I am walking, then I run passed them, then they walk passed me while I am walking. It makes me feel stupid and embarrassed!

Using my own podcasts definitely helped so I made a week 3 one. Here it is for anyone who enjoyed the first

Couch to 5k Podcast – Week 3

Track Listing:

La Roux – In For The Kill
Cascada – Evacuate The Dancefloor
Ultrabeat – Use Somebody
Cheryl Cole – Fight For This Love
Freemasons – Heartbreak
Pussycat Dolls – Jai Ho
Calvin Harris – I’m Not Alone
Britney Spears – Toxic
Sugababes – About A Girl
Survivor – Eye Of The Tiger

Yet every night come workout time I just hop on my elliptical or start up my DVD.

I want to run dammit.

I suppose it’s a combination of two things stopping me. Last year when I started it in October it really didn’t go well, I wasn’t wearing the correct clothes or trainers so hurt my shins badly and really overheated to the point I almost passed out and had to walk very slowly all the way home – I was lightheaded for days afterwards and could hardly walk on my poor shins. I decided that I’d wait until the spring/summer to try again when I had the proper gear and the weather was better.

There’s also the fact that even after 3 years on this journey I have still never actually worked out in public really, I still have major anxiety about being ‘the fat girl working out in public’ – I know in reality no one would look twice at me, but the idea of running all sweaty and gross passed people makes me nervous.

*Sigh*

Come on woman, grow some BALLS!

Ps. Visit this great Health Forum

I’ve probably spent 100s of hours working out of the last 2 years, but always alone and in my own home, so this was a major deal for me.

I went for a jog.

I hated it lol

I hated being out in public and I hated seeing people, in cars or otherwise. I made sure not to make eye contact with any one. It was also a lot harder than I thought, I only did around 1.3 miles and I had to walk most of it on the way back as I went light headed. My legs also really hurt today.

I really didn’t enjoy any thing about it, but I am going to give it a chance and do it a few more times least.