On Sept 2nd, I started on a challenge to run 5km in under 25 minutes, a goal of running a 5 minute/km average.

I ‘m not a huge fan of exercise, least of all running so I started skating. That first week, I skated over 50km. As great as that sounds, it wasn’t the idea of getting fit that prompted the long skates. It was the fact that I couldn’t afford the tram to get into the city!

It wasn’t until 3 weeks later that I actually managed to convince myself to go for a run.

I started doing the couch to 5km fitness program using an app on my phone. The first week started with a ‘easy’ 1 minute run followed by a 1.5 minute walk.  I almost passed out after 3.2km and managed a 7 minute average. A friend pointed out that she could walk with a pram faster than my best effort. How embarrassing.

It’s been 5 weeks since that first run and it’s not all doom and gloom. It’s taken a little bit of commitment but I’ve kept on running every few days.

Today, I managed to run 6 km in 30 minutes. Between start and finish, there was about 6 minutes of walking. Much better than when I first started. It works out to about 5km in 25 minutes. That’s basically reached my goal (I just need to remove the walking breaks).

I’ve set a new target to run 5km in under 20 minutes. I’m looking forward to meeting this new goal! I’ll be sure to share updates!

Are you a runner or have recently started running? I would love to hear of your experiences and running times as encouragement, motivation or a challenge.