My Honest Couch to 5K Experience | From Beginner to 5K Finish

[00:01] it's Sunday and we just finished all of

[00:04] week

[00:05] two thank

[00:12] God hello everyone Welcome to our

[00:15] Channel I'm Lonnie and today I'm going

[00:17] to be sharing my running Journey with

[00:19] you all just a note if I seem to be

[00:21] looking down on my phone a lot I've just

[00:23] written down some notes that I've sort

[00:25] of summarized because obviously this

[00:28] journey has been going on on for a

[00:30] number of weeks so I've had to rewatch

[00:32] some of the footage and just also

[00:34] document along the way how I sort of

[00:36] felt so before I started this program I

[00:39] was a beginner Runner or technically a

[00:41] non-runner so being a non-runner I had

[00:44] to start off with the very first program

[00:46] which is a couch to 5K program so that's

[00:50] the one that I'm going to be talking

[00:52] about and sharing my experiences today

[00:55] so before I started this program I was

[00:59] definitely itely not a runner I couldn't

[01:03] even Run 2 km without dying or having to

[01:06] stop like it was really bad my

[01:08] cardiovascular fitness was terrible so I

[01:12] started to see a lot of running videos

[01:15] as everyone probably knows running this

[01:18] year and last year has sort of become a

[01:20] trend so I started seeing a lot of Tik

[01:22] toks and YouTube videos and YouTubers I

[01:25] follow starting to get into running and

[01:28] I just found it really inspiring and I

[01:31] just thought it was crazy the distances

[01:34] that some people could smash and I just

[01:36] thought it would be pretty cool if I

[01:38] would be able to do that but I don't

[01:40] know I was a bit hesitant but then

[01:41] Michael and I One Day decided to join up

[01:45] for a Half Marathon this year which is

[01:47] pretty crazy so yeah one day we were

[01:50] like should we just sign up for a half

[01:52] marathon which seemed crazy since we

[01:55] weren't Runners well I wasn't a runner

[01:58] at all I was a non-runner and to sign up

[02:01] for a half marathon without having any

[02:03] training was crazy but yeah seems stupid

[02:07] a non-runner signing up for a 21 km run

[02:10] who couldn't even Run 2

[02:12] km but here I am today I've finished the

[02:16] program the couch to 5K program Michael

[02:19] already was a lot furter than me but he

[02:22] came along on this journey to support me

[02:26] and just do it with me help me document

[02:28] my journey so

[02:30] thanks Michael credit to him being my

[02:33] videographer while I was dying most of

[02:35] the time so week one the beginning of

[02:38] the couch to 5K program I just remember

[02:41] being quite uncomfortable it definitely

[02:44] was a beginner course and obviously

[02:47] being the first week and the first day

[02:49] it was quite maintainable it just sort

[02:52] of got you in an uncomfortable State

[02:56] your heart rate yeah so it was in

[02:58] intervals you would walk walk for a

[03:00] certain amount of time then run for a

[03:02] certain amount of time so it wasn't too

[03:03] bad it being the first week you weren't

[03:06] having to do a strenuous amount of

[03:09] running and by the time you did start to

[03:11] get puffed it would go back to the

[03:13] walking and then you'd obviously catch

[03:14] your breath which was great before you

[03:16] had to run again but yeah the intervals

[03:18] were good because obviously being a

[03:21] firsttime runner it was really hard so

[03:24] having the walking Brakes in between

[03:26] really helped but yeah it was good

[03:28] because running for the first time time

[03:30] well not for the first time obviously

[03:32] but trying to smash long distances it

[03:35] was hard and running for those amounts

[03:37] of time so having the breaks and the

[03:39] intervals in between to catch my breath

[03:42] was really good so weeks 2 to 4 were

[03:45] similar obviously to the first week they

[03:48] were interval sessions but they were

[03:50] focusing on running for longer and

[03:53] having shorter rest breaks so as the

[03:56] days and weeks went on into weeks 2 to

[03:59] before they were running longer

[04:02] distances walking shorter distances so

[04:05] it was getting yourself used to running

[04:07] for longer without the brakes or at

[04:09] least without super long braks and just

[04:12] cutting them even shorter every single

[04:14] time so it was hard because as the weeks

[04:17] went on it sort of didn't feel like it

[04:20] was ever getting easier because the days

[04:22] and weeks are constantly just getting

[04:25] slightly harder so you never really feel

[04:28] like you're progressing much because

[04:30] it's just constantly hard well that's

[04:32] how I F I found it anyway so week five

[04:35] of day three is where it started to sort

[04:38] of get serious it was the first

[04:40] non-interval session and it had me

[04:43] running a 20 minute jog which was which

[04:47] which was crazy to me because as you

[04:49] know I said I couldn't even Run 2 km

[04:51] which is not even 10 to 15 minutes so to

[04:55] have to run consecutively without

[04:57] stopping for 20 minutes I was stressed

[05:01] and I found it really hard but it was

[05:03] more I was trying to focus on jogging so

[05:07] they recommend running at a reasonable

[05:10] Pace where you can hold a conversation

[05:12] so it's not a Flatout Sprint run it's

[05:15] more like a comfortable run jogging slow

[05:18] enough so that you can hold a

[05:19] conversation so yeah the 20-minute jog

[05:22] at the time felt like eternity and some

[05:25] days I honestly just wanted to give up

[05:27] but I wanted to keep going I knew that

[05:31] not long 3 weeks and I would be able to

[05:34] attempt a 5 km run so I stuck to it but

[05:38] yeah every single time that I thought

[05:40] about not completing the program or not

[05:43] going for a run I just thought about why

[05:46] I wanted to do it in the first place and

[05:48] that I wanted to progress I wanted to be

[05:51] that person that is able to smash a 5 or

[05:54] 10 km run and I also had signed up for

[05:58] the half marathon so I knew that every

[06:00] single day and every single week counted

[06:03] towards the training for the half

[06:05] marathon so for the last 3 weeks of the

[06:08] program so weeks 6 7 and 8 they were

[06:11] definitely the hardest weeks there were

[06:13] interval sessions mixed in with

[06:16] consecutive running sessions so

[06:19] obviously the interval sessions were

[06:20] really hard you were running for long

[06:23] periods of time and only having really

[06:26] short rests in between and then the

[06:29] consecutive running sessions got really

[06:31] long so they were between 20 to 25

[06:34] minutes to 30 to 35 minutes long so

[06:37] that's consecutive jogging with no

[06:40] breaks

[06:41] which I struggled with it was probably

[06:44] the worst time as well to start this

[06:46] program cuz as you know we live in the

[06:48] Northern Territory and when we decided

[06:50] to start this program it was the middle

[06:52] of the buildup in the wet season so it

[06:54] was the hottest time and we were running

[06:59] in the heat and it was just crazy hot so

[07:02] we finished the last run of the program

[07:04] on a Saturday morning and I think we

[07:06] went at about 7 7:30 in the morning

[07:09] which was already crazy humid and hot

[07:12] even though it was very early so it was

[07:15] an interval session the last interval

[07:17] session and it was I think 5 minutes on

[07:20] 2 minutes off just repeating for just

[07:23] over an hour and I think we did about

[07:26] 6.8 I think 6.8 km yeah so almost 7 km

[07:31] of just interval running um for over an

[07:35] hour so that was the last session and I

[07:37] remember it being really hot and I

[07:39] remember looking at my watch after and I

[07:41] was like to my I burned so many calories

[07:43] like that was the longest and hardest

[07:46] interval session we've ever done which

[07:47] makes sense because it was the last day

[07:50] of the program so after finishing the

[07:52] program I felt really good I don't think

[07:56] I've ever stuck to anything so well than

[07:59] I have during this program for 8 weeks

[08:03] no skipping no missing always showing up

[08:07] so I felt really really good after I had

[08:09] finished this program I felt

[08:11] accomplished I felt I had really

[08:13] improved in my fitness so yeah I was

[08:16] really eager to test my 5 km run um so

[08:20] we went the very next day on the Sunday

[08:23] afternoon to test out my 5 km so Michael

[08:27] came with me on my test run on the

[08:30] Sunday the 5 km we didn't film it but I

[08:33] did include a snippet at the end on how

[08:36] I felt finishing it and I'll also

[08:39] include my Apple Fitness time but I ran

[08:43] the 5 km in 36 minutes and 58 seconds so

[08:48] with an average pace of

[08:51] 723 per kilm that was my Pace 723

[08:55] roughly I'm still getting the running

[08:56] lingo guys so we just came back with we

[08:59] did our 5K since we finished the program

[09:03] yesterday I am so dead my hands are

[09:07] shaking I definitely couldn't have done

[09:10] it without Michael pushing me I really

[09:12] struggled even after 2 and 1/2k I was

[09:16] just my mouth was dry my legs were

[09:19] burning but I did 5K in 36 minutes and

[09:25] 58 seconds with an average pace of 7

[09:30] 3 723 km per

[09:33] hour how do you read those pce 7 Minutes

[09:36] 23 per kilometer yeah which is this very

[09:41] it's very good for Lani like she did not

[09:43] think she could do 5K continuous so the

[09:47] fact that she did it very proud of her

[09:49] she did a very good job I honestly

[09:52] thanks honey water oh thank

[09:57] God my mouth just gets so dry I'm sort

[10:01] of still learning how to breathe

[10:02] properly running but I did not think I

[10:06] could do that and I definitely don't

[10:07] think I could have done it by myself

[10:09] without Michael pushing me but we've

[10:12] done it so that is my first 5k ever

[10:17] running

[10:18] nonstop so I'm super proud I didn't stop

[10:23] which was good it was definitely still

[10:25] challenging um even though I'd done 8

[10:28] weeks of the program and I was able to

[10:30] do the 5 km I felt like I really needed

[10:33] Michael there to push me because there

[10:36] were times I think probably hitting the

[10:39] 3 and 1/2 4 km mark and it was hot and I

[10:43] just really was starting to struggle a

[10:46] bit but he was motivating me and like

[10:48] you've trained so hard for this you're

[10:50] almost there and it really got me

[10:52] through it and so when I finished I felt

[10:55] like I was almost going to throw up but

[10:57] I also felt really really good and I

[11:00] just couldn't believe that I had done it

[11:03] and it just goes to show if you show up

[11:07] consistently for that amount of time you

[11:10] can make happen so I had gone from

[11:13] a couch potato to running a 5 km run

[11:18] which I'm very proud of that pace for

[11:21] some people might be really slow or

[11:24] people's slow pace but for my very first

[11:26] 5 km run I was very proud that I just

[11:30] didn't stop and I got it done even if it

[11:33] was a slow pace um for me it's a big

[11:36] achievement so if you're sitting on the

[11:38] couch right now watching this and

[11:40] dreaming of becoming a runner let me

[11:42] tell you this just do it it won't be

[11:45] easy but you just got to make a start

[11:48] get yourself some comfortable running

[11:50] shoes buy yourself some cute running

[11:52] clothes and just take that first step

[11:55] you'll be surprised at what you can

[11:57] achieve when you just show up and and

[11:59] get it done so after the couch to 5 km

[12:02] program Michael and I went straight into

[12:05] the 5 to 10 km program which is the next

[12:08] program yes it's been even more

[12:11] challenging but I'm going to do a

[12:13] separate video on that one so if you

[12:16] want to keep up to date with my

[12:18] realistic running journey of being a

[12:21] non-runner attempting to run a half

[12:23] marathon so make sure you guys

[12:25] definitely subscribe if you want to

[12:27] follow my realistic Journey of going

[12:29] from being a non-runner to running a

[12:31] half

[12:32] marathon bye

[12:39] [Music]