In school, I hated sports, particularly running. I was happier with my head in a book. When I was in my late teens and twenties, I did step workouts, aerobics, aqua aerobics etc. and home fitness videos (I loved Cindy Crawford!) but I never ran unless I was late for a bus.
It wasn’t until 2013, when I was 42, that I bought a pair of proper running shoes and decided to do the UK’s NHS (National Health Service) Couch to 5k podcast. We’d moved to Spain and lived in a beautiful rural village in the mountains and I wanted to get out, see the stunning scenery and get fit. My husband joined me and we thoroughly enjoyed going from feeling that we’d die after 30 seconds of running to being able to complete 5k. It gave us such a sense of achievement.
Tim gave up running after a while, but I stuck with it, but I stuck at 5k, doing it three times a week, and it wasn’t long before I got a bit bored with it. I decided to focus on strength training instead and I did Les Mills programmes for quite a while, and then Caroline Girvan’s YouTube programmes. I mixed strength training with HIIT and would do the odd run or brisk walk. I loved it, but I began to miss running. There was just something about running that kept me sane, that “stuck me back together”. So, last summer (2022), when I was 52, my husband and I decided to do Couch to 5K again. I also began reading up on running and watching YouTube videos on it, and realised that I needed something to work towards, a challenge, rather than just doing 5k three times a week. I wanted to improve, to push myself. So, I signed us up for a half-marathon. We had four months to prepare so I felt ok about it.
I’d done lots of reading by this point and I’d come across Jeff Galloway and his Run-Walk-Run method, which was supposed to help protect you from injury, and was also recommended for more mature runners or people new to running. I bought his book on half-marathon training and we did his method in conjunction with the half-marathon training plan on my Nike app. By 22nd January 2023, the day of our first half-marathon, we both felt nervous but confident. We were prepared. Our aim was just to finish it, but we got a great time – 2h 15 – and we didn’t feel too bad after it. We then kept our training up and completed a second half-marathon on 12th March, and now we’re training for our next on 6th May. Yes, I might have got the bug!
I started running seriously at the age of 52 and I have embraced running. I am a runner! It’s never too late to start and there are so many resources to help you. So, get some running shoes and get out there! Running over 50 is possible and fun.