Taking up the Couch to 5k challenge

Chris Rodgers is an Energy Engineer for CDS at Moorfoot and joined the lunchtime running group there which encouraged him all the way from a mobile app to his first full 5k.

Here's why he took up running and what he's got out of it:

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When my dad was 54 he had a Triple by-pass operation on his heart. For me to see this take place when I was 26 was quite daunting and upsetting.  My dad recovered to tell the story and is now at the ripe old age of 80.

I am nearly 52 and for the past three years I have been looking at my health. With my age getting ever closer to 54, and being 15 stone at one point in my life, I decided to change my eating habits; I did not want to go through what my dad went through.  Having changed the way I eat, I reduced my weight to 12.5 stone, and I am still that weight today.

But still something was missing from being fully healthy, and that was being fit through exercise.  I decided to take up the Couch to 5k challenge which I followed using the Couch to 5k running programme on a mobile app. Over 8 weeks the programme builds up your running skills and stamina 3 times per week. I also joined the lunchtime running group at Moorfoot which encouraged me all the way.

Recently, I completed the programme and ran my first full 5k in a time of 30 minutes. From running for 2 minutes and struggling, to 30 minutes and being comfortable is a big achievement for me.

My hope now is I have avoided the trauma that my dad went through, and that I can reach his ripe old age in the future.

With the 10k programme beckoning me, I hope my story can inspire others to take up the Couch to 5k, whether through a mobile app or with the Moorfoot Lunch Time Running Group, as I have been inspired by it all and enjoyed the experience all the way.