How Running changed my Life... My Couch to 5k Experience

Okay so bear with the overly dramatic title here, it probably didn't actually change my life. But it did change a lot of my outlook on life, more than I ever expected it would. To take you back just a little bit, I started the Couch to 5k (C25k) programme at the start of last summer. I knew a few people who had done it and loved it so I thought I might as well give it a stab. I've never thought I could run, in fact I would use any excuse to get out of PE at school and the prospect of Sports Day would loom over me like a terrifying monster each summer. But this programme changed that.

Its combination of walking and running to a podcast of admittedly rather strange music helped me get over my feeling of 'I can't do this' by making me feel like I'd achieved something great, and I barely noticed it building my stamina and endurance. Now when someone says let's go for a run, it doesn't fill me with dread. In fact, I rather enjoy the chance to get some fresh air and clear my head!

I'll be the first to admit that since returning to uni I haven't run nearly half as much as I would have liked to, but I still enjoy the occasional Park Run on a Saturday morning. Doing C25k gave me the confidence to start playing netball too, something that I would never have dreamed of doing just a year ago.

It's also crazy how it's changed the way I view my body. Especially when I'm running regularly, my mind is changed from thinking of what my body looks like, to what it can do. It makes me feel happier and more confident in my own skin when I know that my body is fit and healthy, the sort of confidence you could never get from viewing your body as a shell!

Long story short, I think everyone should do C25k. It's about more than just running!