Couch to 5k

I have always thought that running was inherently uncomfortable and that anyone who chose to do it had a high threshold for pain.

In the past, I would be so sore after a run, I needed a week to recover. By the time I was ready to head out again, my enthusiasm had waned just from anticipating the pain.

My relationship with running continued to fluctuate. I replaced running with hiking and was regularly at it until I left for Europe. The logistics of looking for housing along with acclimatising to my new life put an end to any form of physical activity.

When I finally settled in Malta and had some semblance of normalcy, I was mainly hiding indoors doing calisthenics. Summer was brutal and although the longer days were a nice welcome from dreary Ireland, the heat was relentless. Coupled with the humidity, I didn’t feel like moving an iota of muscle.

By the time September rolled around, the temperatures became a lot more tolerable. I was ready to come out of hibernation. I decided then that completing a 5k would be my winter project. With encouragement from a friend who was a veteran runner, I signed up for a race with 20 days to train.

This time I was going to do things differently. I consulted the same friend for some advice and she recommended I use a couch-to-5k app. After a bit of research, I went with Nike Run Club.

On the second day of September, I went for what would be my first run in 2 years.

That run took me 20 minutes and only as far as 2 kilometres. That run was also deliberately slower than I have ever ran since lockdown but it was also the first time I finished a run feeling like I could go for another run.

Game-changer.

With the guided runs on the app, I discovered the right way of running. Up until then, I hadn’t considered form, posture, breath, or pacing. It was a whole new world.

But of these elements, pacing had the biggest affect on me. It is everything. Pacing is what will make or break a run. Set off too fast and the run can quickly turn into a slog. As I have learned, slow runs, runs that allow you to talk without struggle is what motivates a runner (at least in the beginning) to keep showing up at the starting line.

Diligently following the beginner guides, I often found myself finishing a run excited for the next one. I wasn’t sore to the point of being unable to move the next day and whatever knee-pain I had was also quickly rectified with a quick search on YouTube about form adjustment.

It’s been two months now since I first started running and in that time, I have completed three 5k(s), two of which were races. My current personal record stands at 34 minutes.

It was a misconception on my part to think that running is innate and that it was something people got better at the more they did it. And if they didn’t – as in my case – then it was just a matter of incompatibility. I forget we inhabit a world rich in knowledge and tapping into them can make all the difference.