C25K programme

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I'm leading a Couch25K group at work and was pleased to have 10 people attend the first session today.

Running has done so much for me physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally and socially, and I want to share that with others. I know the NHS promoted programme gives a good basis for people to be introduced to running, and it is always more successful when people do it with a group to stay motivated.

Before Christmas I floated the idea and had a positive reaction. To be honest I didn't expect everyone who said yes to go through with it so it was encouraging to see them all there today in new trainers and eager to start.

We began with a five minute brisk walk from the office to the Bandstand on the seafront. Once there I gave a short pep talk and led them in some warm up exercises. We then began with a one minute jog along the Leas promenade in a westerly direction. At the end of sixty seconds I blew my whistle and we slowed to a walk for 90 seconds.

When I blew the whistle the next time we turned to the east with the wind at our backs and repeated the run/walk until we were at the start again. After four sets of this we finished with a warm down and walked back to the office.

Everyone succeeded in running for each of the one minute sectors without having to stop which was a big achievement. We repeat this session on Wednesday and Friday and then up the amount of running after the weekend.

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