Run Fat Girl Run #thisgirlcan

I can't believe I'm actually about to say this but I've just been for my first run ever, yes, in my whole life! I completed day one of the couch to 5k tonight with Sarah Millican as my coach!

This is obviously a brand new thing but it's been coming for a while.  On Wednesday in the Lake District with my lovely friend Harriet we accidentally ended up on the wrong trail in Dodd Wood and ended up nearly at the top of Skiddaw, I say nearly because I didn't know it was Skiddaw and just before we got to the summit we found another forest path which would take us back to our hotel, the Ravenstone Manor.  My heart rate was 147bpm and I thought I might keel over but we got to the most amazing viewpoint.

Then on Thursday whilst on a boat across Ullswater I nearly froze in the keen easterly breeze so I popped in to a brand new shop in Pooley Bridge and bought myself a very outdoorsy top, it's fleece lined and has a pocket for my phone.

This afternoon I invested in some Karrimor Run trainers and a couple of sporty running numbers and that was it, running Mandy was born!

I guess that it wasn't much of an extension from what I already do, after all I'd already done my power hour when out with Holly Bobbins but that was mainly to deflect the cake calories from afternoon tea.

I've been walking 10-15k a day now for about 18 months and I really do achieve it most days, if I can't achieve that I try to get my 30 minutes of exercise according to Apple watch and to think a few years ago I was a very rotund girl who weighed more than 14 stones.

Whilst I can't say that my first couch to 5k was fun, I really did struggle with some points but I felt a massive sense of accomplishment when I got to the end of the session.  

Tomorrow is a rest day running wise but I'll still do my 10k and ideally I'd like to lose a stone by Christmas and I'd like to be running 5k a couple of times a week too.

I'm putting no pressure on myself but I love how my life has changed so much, I'm not fat Mandy anymore, I'm that Mandy, outdoor Mandy, running Mandy, this girl who has achieved so much definitely can!