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- "Couch to 5k" running programs are a great way to get fit for new runners.
- Author Jennifer Still writes that she recently turned to a "Couch to 5K" running program to lose weight.
- Here, Still details seven tips she wishes she'd known before starting the program.
After years of being overweight and unfit, I decided I needed to make a change, and soon.
I started with the basics: a completely overhauled diet and some moderate exercise. I've walked my dog twice a day for years, but I also joined a local gym and began doing cardio in the form of indoor cycling five days a week.
However, I always wanted to try running and vowed that I'd one day start and complete the Couch to 5K program, a walk-run regimen that works to gradually increase your running distance over time.
Considering that I couldn't even jog half a mile at my starting point, I doubted my ability to run five kilometers (roughly 3.1 miles). But after recently starting the C25K program, I'm already learning so much and starting to believe that maybe there's a runner inside me after all.
Here are a few things that I wish I'd known before I set out for my first run.