Just over a year ago...

I wouldn't have said I was a runner.

I wouldn't have said I was fit.

I wouldn't have said anything about me was sporty.

I was obese.  That's a fact.  I was unhealthy.  I hadn't taken care of myself for a long while and as 2012 tipped into 2013, the realisation that I was in my last full year of my thirties struck me.  If I didn't start to take care of myself now, it wasn't going to get any better.

So, I cut out the junk.  Started the 5:2 fasting diet.  And began the Couch to 5k programme - which is designed to get complete non-runners off the sofa and onto their feet.  At first, I couldn't run more than about 45 seconds without feeling like my lungs were going to explode.  I was shocked at how unfit I was.  The thought that I'd ever be able to run 5k seemed laughable.  And only the fact that I had chosen to run in a quiet nature reserve where scarcely anyone would see me, let alone notice this obese woman shuffling around - sometimes quicker, sometimes slower... but always shuffling - seemed to be the only good thing.  No-one would witness my humiliation.

I don't know what kept me going other than curiosity at first.  I had no idea whether the programme would work, but I just kept on keeping on with it.  Week after week.  Increasing from a minute's run to a minute and a half... to three minutes... then five... and gradually on to a full half hour.  The day that the podcasts I was listening to said 'you can now call yourself a runner' I could have wept with happiness.

Fast forward a year and I'm no longer obese - and have been at a normal weight since the middle of May last year.  I weigh over 80lbs less than when I started running and since the beginning of December 2013, I have run every single day.  As of today, that's 75 days of running!

... my fastest mile is currently 7 mins 38 seconds.  I'm entered for a 10k race in April and two half marathons later in the year.

I still find running REALLY hard work and have confidence issues about how far I can run and fear running with other people, which is ridiculous.  I feel like they'll find out I'm not a proper runner and discover I'm a fraud.

I thought I'd like to blog my experiences of trying to become a runner.

So here goes nothing!