Trepidation Be Gone

I started with some trepidation as a couch potato in Jan 2017 and by the end of March I had done my first Park Run (5km).

I continued running throughout 2017 as a stress buster and the club coach, Conor Graham, helped me with my technique and stamina.

Now at the beginning of 2018 I am working towards my first Half Marathon. Completely unbelievable and I would have given up a long time ago without Cheltenham Running Club.

Highly recommended.

"improving my speed and endurance in a careful and gradual way..."

I highly recommend Conor's training squads. I've been a keen occasional runner for a few years, and had run a few 10ks and half marathons.

This year I was determined to get some structure in my training and see what I could achieve at the Cheltenham Half with a proper training plan. I hadn't done much training in the months before joining Conor's programme and was pretty unfit.

I've found the structure of the training plan to be excellent in improving my speed and endurance in a careful and gradual way over several months, without risking the injuries I've had in the past when I've suddenly increased mileages.

The combination of the interval runs with their lung-busting fast kilometers, good paced tempo runs and sensibly paced long runs has transformed my fitness. The improvement in performance has been really good too - I'm running 18ks at a faster pace than I ran a 5k at the start of the programme, and have beaten my 10k pb from several years ago.

What I find amazing is that I now think of going out for a 10k as a short run! Being part of a squad really helps with motivation too, when you might otherwise find an excuse not to go out for that long run in the British rain or holiday heat, and Conor's support and advice has been great as well.

I'm looking forward to the Cheltenham Half, and continuing to get much more out of my running.

Joined Couch to 5k in Lockdown!

I joined CRC in lockdown 3 as I set myself the challenge of completing Couch to 5k! With the support of Conor and my fellow C25K squad members, the useful Zoom calls and training videos I did it! I'm now in the Summer Squad working my way towards 10K and love the support and encouragement of running with others now we can! Everyone in the club is super supportive and the comments you get in the Facebook group really help to motivate you. Who would have thought I would be running 3 times a week and why did I leave it until my 50s to do so!!!

I never thought I would say that running can be fun, but it really can be

I joined CRC as a wannabe runner on the Couch to 5k squad. Being part of a running community has been a massive support to me. I go out with other runners of a similar ability and we develop together, encouraging, motivating and supporting each other.

We're quite a sociable bunch!

It's made the difference between me looking for excuses to not go out for a run and actually looking forward to it. Conor (Head Coach at CRC) is good at helping to keep us all moving forward and working on injury prevention, recovery and training.

I never thought I would say that running can be fun, but it really can be, Go ahead join us.

A Social Couch to 5k Programme with Loads of Guidance

I am currently doing the couch to 5k, I love the social side of it, having others to motivate me and also getting all the information every week about any problems I have, and what the week plan is.