A brief introduction before we get down to business, my name is David and if you would like to know more about me you can do so on the about page here.
The Parallel Fitness-Verse
The Couch to 5K is a fitness trend that I haven’t stopped hearing about for the past 4 months. Since lockdown began and 2020 turned the world upside down I have seen a huge shift in the fitness community, everyone who I associated with being a keen and committed fitness enthusiast seems to have fallen into a pit full of confusion and totally lacking any sense of purpose. Like a child merrily chasing a bubble around the garden, full of joy and fulfilment, only to see it burst before his eyes… and turn him into a fat, sweaty, breathless shadow of his former self… okay fine, I am the child.
It is truly amazing how quickly ‘yeah mate, I can’t believe they have closed it’s such a pain in the arse, oh well it will give me a chance to let my shoulder recover’ turned into a complete and total lack of motivation to do anything that gets my heart rate above a steady 78 beats per minute (sadly a resting heart rate for me nowadays). Now of course not everyone has fallen as far from grace as me, and some even took the initiative to further their training IQ researching callisthenics and similar routines to utilize with the lack of facilities available, I, however, am no such visionary.
Conversely, individuals whom I have seen to have absolutely no prior interest in sports or fitness, now, can’t seem to get enough of it! I’ve seen kids that ‘left their PE kits in the car’ 10 weeks in a row posting daily pictures of themselves running along the beach or hiking up hills to beautiful scenes of the summer eve sun setting over the horizon of the beautiful Brighton coast. Meanwhile, I’m feeling like I shouldn’t spend any sustained period of time outside sprinting distance from a free toilet because I just ate my dog’s weight in takeaway curry (sorry, bit graphic).
What was particularly interesting to me about all these new-found passions for fitness I saw emerging was the incredible number of them that appeared to be conceived through the initiation of the couch to 5K program. That got me asking a question from the rubble of mars bar wrappers and pizza boxes I laid in, Is it as amazing as people say it is?
So, What’s The Plan?
Now at this point in the post, you may have gained a sense that I am perhaps somewhat displeased with my current physique, and to tell you the truth, that honestly is not the case. I just got a B in my English A-level at college (or High School for those of you that didn’t go to school in England) and have been mistaken for thinking I have a talent for dramatic writing ever since…
But to get somewhat serious for a moment, I have always prided myself on being able to attain certain athletic achievements, they may not have always been anything of great note to the wider public, but for me, they have been a source of knowledge that I am consistently hitting goals and heading the right direction. During these past few months, as I’m sure is the case for many of you reading, I have slipped and let myself fall out of this consistency, and what I can say to you is the primary reason for me not feeling defeated, or as if I have thrown away everything I have worked for these past 9 years, is that I know I will get it all back, and this is just another one of many challenges that make the world of fitness so exciting. So for any of you who are feeling helpless in their current circumstances, we will get out of this rut together, and you will be better for it in the long run (see what I did there..).
For those of you who still feel a little down or maybe you just fancy a bit of a laugh, here is some evidence of what I managed to do to my body in an astounding 3 months of what I can tell you, should have earned me some kind of competitive eating medal.
Before 
After
This brings me to the subject of the post, the couch to 5k, and what I intend to do about my current situation. As I am finally tired of being such a lazy sod, I am going to put some serious effort into getting back into shape over these next few months, and I’m using this blog as motivation to do so. As a keen researcher, I figured what better way to reinitiate my fitness journey than to download the couch to 5k app and document my progress on here so that any of you that are in a similar situation to me, want to start running, or just be a bit more active can hear my thoughts on the process first hand.
For those you who want to join me on on this journey, you can download the Couch to 5k App on IOS here, and Android here.
Please stay tuned for my future posts at the 4-week and 9-week milestones!
I am on my second week of Couch to 5k! So far so good! Excited to see what your thoughts about this are!
Hugely inspirational article. I’ve been thinking about doing the Ct5K and reading this has given me the nudge I needed.
So easy to fall off the diet and exercise wagon, particularly during COVID.
I find running really difficult but the idea of building up slowly appeals a lot to me. It’s certainly very easy to get into a rut and out of good habits. I’m looking forward to hearing how you get on.