After having Covid in August 2021 I was unable to sit upright without my heart rate going very fast. I struggled to get out of the house. It was difficult to accept my limitations but my body was clearly telling me that I needed to rest.
As I started to recover I celebrated getting back to the point of walking my boys to school. I very gradually built up the number of steps I was doing in a day. Then I was able to start using a static bike at home. It was several months before I was able to start running again though. I started right back at the beginning of the couch to 5k program. This doesn’t ask you to run more than 1 minute at a time when you start. It still felt like a big challenge and I congratulated myself for achieving that first run.
The couch to 5k program is a great way to gradually build up your fitness level. It is planned over 9 weeks and the first time I completed it in 2019 I completed each session as expected. This time I’m 4 months in and on week 8 so I haven’t completed it yet. You can repeat weeks if needed and my body has shown me in recovery that I need to pace myself very carefully. I’ve had a few setbacks with another virus from one of the boys and a stressful experience that threw my heart rate control off again. But I have stuck with it and kept going even if I have had to go back to a shorter run for a while.
Progress doesn’t always happen in a nice straight line. When I look back to how much I’ve achieved I’m really proud of myself. It has taken a lot of determination. Not just to physically do the running but to motivate myself to keep trying when it seemed that I wasn’t getting anywhere. I had to be patient with myself that it didn’t happen as quickly as before.
A wonderful mindfulness retreat I was on on February had a session about enthusiastic perseverance. This concept really stuck with me. The idea that we keep trying and don’t give up even when we might not succeed because we have determination. Each step we take is progress and even when we relapse, with each occasion, we learn more and make further steps towards our goals.
So here’s a photo of me at the end of a run, hot, sweaty and proud of how far I’ve come!
The couch to 5K program is very good and you can find out more about it here: Get running with Couch to 5K – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Remember that if you have underlying health issues you will need some extra guidance on how you can pace yourself. Please seek medical advice for this.