1. Pre C25K Euphoria...
2. First session doubts...
3. A big sweaty sense of relief...
4. Wondering how you're going to manage an extra 30 seconds during week 2...
5. Actually it's not that bad, you're still knackered, but still manage it...
6. ...But with a 3 minute run tagged on the end! Ouch!
7. Suddenly the five minutes of non-stop running in week 4 looks like it could be achievable...
8. Wait a minute! A 20 minute run, no way am I ready for that...
9. By the time week 6 comes up you're starting to believe anything is possible
10. Week 7 and you feel you've totally got this
11. Week 8... You're a runner...
What happens next...
I did couch to 5k in the Autumn of 2013, that summer I'd decided as a 30 year old that weighed nearly 26 stone I needed to make some changes.
I'd never even heard of couch to 5k until a friend mentioned it to me and told me they'd done it. I downloaded it and gave it a go, never expecting it to take me where it has.
After I "graduated" I moved on to parkrun, weekly, timed, free 5k runs all over the country (and indeed world), for all abilities. Don't think you need to be super fast to take part in these, my first one took me well over half an hour to get round, and I wasn't the last finisher, the parkrun community is really friendly and supportive.
It's now 2016 and I'm over 10 stone lighter and this April I'm taking on the London Marathon, as part of team Slimming World raising money for Cancer Research UK.
I never forget how it all started, and often spot people out running, with their headphones in wondering if they're also just starting out on couch to 5k and will them to love it as much as I did.