Runner of the Month is your chance to get to know some of our runners a little better. this month is a treat as it’s the extraordinary story of our first ever Couch to 50k graduate!
Hi, my name is Sam and I can officially and proudly say I am a part of CDF Runners!
I had joined a gym the year previously to try and lose weight and try and tone I’d gone a handful of times and decided to cancel my membership as it wasn’t working. I had attempted couch to 5k about five years ago but never completed it so I decided to see if I could find a club that was doing the same Couch to 5K as I knew I would never be able to complete this by myself. Well if I can’t commit to going to the gym by myself then what chance did I have running in the rain and in the cold dark nights! So I did some research and discovered CDF Runners were starting in February so I decided to take the plunge and join.
When I first arrived at my first session on a very cold night in February I never dreamed that I would be able to complete the first session let alone complete 10 parkruns over one weekend but that is exactly what happened three months later.
When I first started the Couch to 5K session, the first week comprised of three sessions which included a brisk five-minute warm up walk, then it alternated between one minute of running and one-and-a-half minutes of walking, then a five-minute cool down walk at the end this was for a total of 20 minutes, by the end of the first session I wasn’t sure if I would be able to carry on. But with the support of my fellow runners and the amazing CDF Runner coaches and pacers I was able to carry on.
The Couch to 5K app is for 9 weeks and its aim is to get you running continuously for 30 minutes which I amazingly managed to do and completed my first parkrun in 37 minutes.
Little did I realise that I would accidently sign myself up for the Parkrunathon, I thought it was to do as many park runs in the month of May not do them all in one weekend!
Currently I have raised £300 for The Wallich. CDF Runners adopted The Wallich to be their charity partner and if you would like to donate our JustGiving page is https://www.justgiving.com/teams/cdfrunners
My next aim is now to complete a 10K run either in Barry or Cardiff… So watch this space!