Day 3

It's quite paradoxical that, although I live in one of the most beautiful areas of Scotland, much of my exercise is done in quite shabby urban/ semi-industrial neighbourhoods. I'm sure, of course, that beautiful woodland trails exist nearby. I'm just not at all sure that I'd be able to cope with the demands that such trails would place on someone of my weight and fitness. Concrete it is then. For now...

My plan is evolving daily. I guess that once you have completed a programme like C25K, it's very hard to have to go back to just walking around the same old loops. In the short-term, then, to ease the boredom and simulate a training schedule as much as possible, I've decided that Monday Wednesday and Friday will be my hard days with the others as recovery/easy days. I walked hard today and went almost a couple of minutes faster than my best time so far. I'm hoping that this kind of schedule will add a little bit of competition to the mix and will allow me an easy platform to introduce slightly harder workouts as the weeks progress.

I also read a snippet in Runners' World Magazine from Jeff Galloway (I think) which espoused a very gradual transition from walking to running. The basic idea was that you run for 10 seconds and walk for 50 over a ten minute period, gradually increased the 10 minutes to 30, and then gradually increased the seconds spent running. I'll consider this approach, possibly, when my weight gets to a sensible level.

For the moment, though, I'm focusing on gratitude. I am lucky that I am able to get out every day and walk for 2.5miles. Many people can't (or wont) and, I'm sure, their lives are poorer for it. My life is much richer for achieving something every day whilst most people are still in bed. I am so grateful for all that I have. I am grateful that I get to share that with you, dear reader. Onwards.