Douglas Ireland

Tag: exercise

  • Running, Stopping, and Starting Again.

    I’ve completed the Couch to 5K programme twice before. It’s not magic, but it works. Each time I finished, I felt quietly pleased with myself. I’d reached a point where running 5 kilometres in around half an hour was comfortable. Not easy, exactly, but doable.

    I enjoyed it, too. Or at least, I enjoyed the feeling afterwards. A clear head, lungs awake, the simple satisfaction of having moved my body for half an hour. And yet, both times, gradually and predictably, my trainers ended up back in the cupboard. Days between runs turned into weeks. Motivation faded, routines slipped.

    I’m not running right now because of a back injury. But I’m hoping I’ll start again soon. My aim is simple: run 5K in about 30 minutes, three times a week. The NHS recommends at least 30 minutes of vigorous activity weekly, enough to break a sweat and get properly out of breath, and this ticks that box neatly.

    For anyone unfamiliar, the Couch to 5K (often shortened to C25K) is straightforward. You run three times each week, for nine weeks. Early on, it’s mostly walking, with short bursts of jogging. Over time, the jogging bits get longer, and the walks shorter, until you’re running continuously for half an hour or so. It’s structured, manageable, and it doesn’t assume you’re already fit.

    I’ve never struggled with completing the programme itself. It’s after finishing, once I’ve proven to myself that I can do it, that the difficulty begins. Without a schedule nudging me forward, I slip quietly back into the old routines of not running at all. Maybe the issue is that I think of myself as having ‘finished’ something. Perhaps running isn’t something that can be finished. It’s more of an ongoing conversation between motivation and habit, between intention and routine.

    This time, I wonder if acknowledging this up front might help. There’s no great secret to staying motivated. It’s probably about quiet acceptance that some days I won’t want to run at all. But maybe running anyway, gently defying the urge to stop, will help me find a sustainable rhythm.

    For now, my shoes are waiting. Soon enough, I hope, I’ll be lacing them up again.

  • The Nap That Ate the Evening

    We had a plan.

    Gym bags by the door. Water bottles filled. The noble intention of movement pencilled in for after work.

    But then the sofa looked inviting. And the thought of a “quick refreshing nap” crept in like a cunning little idea. Just twenty minutes, we said. Just a recharge. Nothing serious.

    Two hours later, we woke up bleary-eyed, limbs heavy, the room dimmer than before. Not quite sure where we were in the day. Definitely not at the gym.

    Now we’re talking about takeaway, not treadmills. Chatting about what kind of beer to pick up instead of whether to do intervals or a long slow stretch on the mat. There’s a quiet agreement between us. No mention of the gym. We are both gracefully, strategically, ignoring it.

    We’ve let the monkey mind steer the ship tonight. The part of us that likes naps and noodles more than effort and structure. And honestly, I’m not even mad.

    There’s something funny and human about it. We try to keep it all together. Health, routine, responsibility. But now and then it slips. Or we let it slip. Sometimes what we need isn’t discipline. Sometimes it’s just a pause, a laugh, and a decent curry.

    Maybe tomorrow we’ll do better. Maybe not. But for now, I’m just glad we’re in it together.