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Can Run, Will Run!

Last year I took up running, I lost 2.5st, my resting heart rate dropped to 55bpm and I could run 5k in 45 minutes. Winter came, and I stopped running. Spring has sprung and now I am determined to recover my fitness. This is my story, my account and accountability. I can't promise to set the world on fire, but I am working on getting go faster stripes on my trainers. My purpose it to share my journey with the hope that it might help others. Life can be challenging, we all deserve to have something which makes us feel free and as if we could conquer the world. Surprisingly, for me that turned out to be running. The first time I was able to run for 5 minutes I cried. Genuinely. Good thing I had sunglasses on as I am certain the dog walkers would have thought something was wrong.

I am a chunky runner and proud of it, who says fat girls can't run.... no-one! We can, we all run at our own pace and that is my mission, to run my own race at my own pace. A number of people have asked about other runners, or walkers (with or without dogs), do they ever comment. Yes, they do. I get lots of smiles, hellos, you're doing fantastic, you're getting further this week, seeing you makes me smile, I wish I could do that and 'fluffy, get back here and leave the lady alone, she's trying to run'. To be perfectly honest, if anyone does or did have a problem with a chunky monkey like me running, well then, that's their problem and they need to live with it- I don't, even though I'm slow, I can still run and I'll be long gone!

So, my running journey will include some weight loss. My father died of a heart attack at the age of 51, I'm in my forties and potentially at risk. Currently some of my weight is sitting round my middle, that is what I'm going to work on with a mixture of running, cardio fitness and a soca fitness dance class. Don't know soca, think chacha, meringue, tango, salsa with a bit of attitude and a fitness twist. Or google it!

Today was day 1. I have restarted my running routine, week 1 run 1 of the NHS C25K. Podcasts of this are available on iTunes or you can download the one you app to your phone. Your own music can play in the background, and the coaches break into your music and tell you what to do. I've gone with Laura as my coach, the original voice of the podcast, I find her voice soothing and cheerful. There are also 4 other celebrity choices. I've planned my runs for this week: Wednesday and Friday, with soca on Tuesday and Slimming World (and a facial- wooo hooo) on Thursday.

So this is me, Jools, a bit of a rambler! So if you want to join me on my journey, feel free to follow me on this blog. I was about to do a Christmas 5K, hence the antlers!

If you want a bit more advice on the running side of things, try Julie Creffield at http://toofattorun.co.uk/

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