We hear from Anne-Marie who has been prioritising her wellbeing and successfully completed Couch to 5K with her son Andrew! Image Anne-Marie and son Andrew on a run "Although looking out at today’s rainy, dark early afternoon, it can seem hard to recall the bright airy days of summer, however one piece of the summer remains with me and that is learning how to run. Well now when I say ‘run’, it’s really more of a slow shuffle but definitely something beyond walking pace, and definitely something I never thought that I would be able to achieve. The week that the schools reopened, my 11 year old son Andrew and I completed Couch to 5k. This was without doubt one of the proudest moments in my life. And yes I embarrassed him with a little cry and a big hug when we finished! I have never (never ever) run in my life. Secretly in recent years I wished I could. Other people seemed to manage it, even seemed to like doing it, but it always felt like something that although I got the gist of the ‘how’ – was just not for me. We decided one day just to give it a go, together. Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 10 or 11 depending on the diary for the day, we would head up to the canal tow path (5 mins brisk walk from the front door) and off we would go. I had the phone with the app and as he was always a wee bit ahead, I would shout ‘walk’, ‘get ready’, ‘run’ as the app instructed. I’m so proud to say, we never missed a day and except for the one day when Andrew got a bee sting along the way (ouch!) we never stopped once on our running sections. Little by little the stretches of running became longer and the walking breaks shorter. We would have a sneaky peak at the next day’s run on our cool down walk and prepare ourselves for it. We met such lovely people along the canal, they clapped and cheered us on. As the weeks progressed and the canal boat holidays resumed everyone waved as they sailed by. Bit by bit we got there. Some days easier than others. We would shout encouragement to each other when the other was struggling. We ran a clear 25 minutes on my birthday at the end of July. It felt awesome. A superb birthday present. Then finally we got to the end of the app. What next? Well I’m pleased to say we’re still running J No longer our weekday slots (school got in the way), but at least once a week on a Sunday morning. Half an hour. Yes half an hour running, yes me! I hope from reading this anyone who might have that little glimmer of, ‘well maybe I could try’ within them, will try. Please do. Believe me, if I can do it you can, and it feels great. PS – Andrew was brilliant. I’m so pleased to say that he received a Blue Peter Sports badge in the post this week for all his encouragement to his Mum. Very Well deserved!" This article was published on 2024-07-01
