I\u2019m no different, if I was honest, my own would be to eat better (well to lay off the cakes at least) and to exercise more. Since doing the Cardiff Half in October, I had been a bit lazy, don\u2019t get me wrong I was still running but I wasn\u2019t putting half the effort into it. I decided that January would be a new beginning, I would not only make more of an effort to get out running but I would also help others do the same.<\/p>\n
I knew a few people who wanted to start running but weren\u2019t confident to go it alone so I decided to start a beginners running group in Pencoed. I wanted it to be for complete newbies or those that hadn\u2019t run for a while and wanted to get back into it. And so \u2018Straight off the Couch\u2019 began.<\/p>\n
I set up a Facebook page and invited a few people who I thought would be interested. Our first run was on the 1st of January, six ladies turned up that day, we did a gentle walk a minute, run a minute around Pencoed for about 20 minutes, the ladies really enjoyed their first session and said they would be back and would bring a friend \u2013 and gosh they weren\u2019t kidding, by our third session on the 4th of January 20 ladies turned up!!! <\/p>\n
Amazingly it\u2019s been the same every week, more and more ladies keep coming and we have over 100 members on our Facebook page. We do three sessions a week, Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. Some nights we\u2019ve had as many as 32 ladies turn up. We now have to split the group into 3 groups due to the different levels the ladies are at, but they are all doing awesomely. Our faster group are flying!! And as some of my ladies would say \u201cThe back is where it\u2019s at!\u201d where our complete newbies are giving it their best and are determined to never to give up. <\/p>\n
Now as talented as I am, I cannot be in two places at once, I needed to get some helpers in to do the sessions with me due to the numbers. Luckily the Pencoed Panthers were able to help and it\u2019s been brilliant for the 0-5k group to run with the Panthers, it\u2019s really helped with their confidence and it\u2019s been good for them to hear how others have started and come along over time. A few of our ladies have already signed up for the St David\u2019s Day 5k Run and I\u2019ve even heard a whisper or two about the Cardiff Half in October. <\/p>\n