About 2 years ago I decided I needed to do something to increase my cardiovascular health. It’s not as if I am a couch potato, I walked the dog every day, come rain or shine, for anything from 5k to 11k, on average about 8k, but was beginning to feel that my stamina was challenged.
I read up on the NHS web site about exercise and found some Strength & Flexibility Exercises with a podcast that I thought would be a gentle introduction to a more formal exercise regime. I have been doing them almost every morning since then.
At the same time I came across the Couch to 5k course that would get me running instead of walking. The course lasts 9 weeks after which I should be able to run for at least 30 minutes. The dog would like that because I think he finds me a bit slow. (My wife, who takes the dog for his morning walk, also does some running, mostly weekends, and the dog enjoys it because she gets a move on.)
Anyway, while on holiday at a lovely country hotel in Dartmoor I started the course, but after 2 days I caught COVID; so that put a stop to it. I didn’t suffer too much, just like bad Flu that lasted a bit longer. However, I don’t think I have proper ’long COVID’ but I have never properly recovered my full health again, and my stamina deteriorated even more such that I could only walk the dog about 5k a day.
After about a year I had got my walking up to about 6k a day, sometimes 7k. Although I was struggling, I was determined not to be beaten so I decided to try starting the Couch to 5k again. This time however, after two days I had to stop again because my wife was ill. Now having to walk the dog twice a day and do more work about the house there was not enough time and I was too knackered to run.
So zoom forward to the present day and I am please to have now reached week 8 of the course and can run for 30 minutes non-stop – but now have a leg injury. Its not serious, only lasted about one day, but it was a warning not to push myself too hard. I am now having a short break before completing the course. Today I ran for 10 minutes just to keep going and will so the same for a few days until I think it safe to continue. As its now Xmas I will probably not start in earnest until the New Year.