i stopped smoking and started running

Hi everyone,

Im truly a newbie to this running lark. Im short and about 2 stone overweight, with a reasonable level of fitness although it can be improved. 4 weeks ago I quit smoking and started jogging, (I said I would do the Yorkshire 3 Peaks this year in a bid for training for the National 3 Peaks next year and then I looked at how far it is and thought "You bloody fool, you'll never be fit enough to 25 miles in 6 months!)  First at the gym. I could barely do 1 minute without it feeling like time had slowed down, then a walk then another minute but I persevered for 15 minutes. (I'd been doing brisk uphill walks on the treadmill for ages but was getting bored with the slow progress). I slowly increased this to 2 minutes, then a walk, then another 2 minutes. I finally built up to running half a km without stopping for a week, then a whole km without stopping. Last week I even did 2 whole km on the treadmill without stopping (it took me 20 minutes) but the sense of achievement was great. (I didnt even manage the 1 mile cross country course when I was at school).

I seem to have plateaued in my weight loss but people have said I look smaller and Im finally back into a size 14 jeans so I know I've lost weight and toned up. I'm not snacking on as much rubbish food and using the MyFitnessPal app to keep a track of food and exercise. What savoury. low fat, low carb snacks are there? I find fruit and raw veggies are too sweet for when Im in a savoury snack mood.

I have also started going for a jog outside on a flat path and Im finding that I can barely get 400 metres of a jog before I have to stop, when Im outside (hence the nickname!) when I was getting a further distance and a slight increase in speed on the treadmill. I find I can plug in my mp3 player and stare at a spot on the bricks in front of me or out the window at some unmoving spot and switch off, while outside I just cant concentrate enough to get past the 400m mark without wanting to stop. I'm going to sign up for the C25K course to try and get past the 400m mark and have some support from others in a similar situation. How else can I motivate myself to keep running to get past the 400m mark when Im outside?

Frustrated-runner

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