A few of my leaders commented on the progress of Lisa Porter who has been running with us for over a year. Below is Lisa’s journey:
‘Despite being a keen athlete at school I’d always been overweight as an adult. I first joined SE Fitness in January 2012, part way through my weight loss ‘journey’. I had lost about 3 stone at that point, but it was creeping back on and I certainly wasn’t fit. I think I really only signed up to satisfy myself that running wasn’t for me, but I’m still here 15 months later! I remember feeling quite relieved at my first session that there were lots of people like me, of all shapes and sizes, and not everyone was a professional looking athlete. With the support of the leaders I progressed from the beginner groups, where I could just about run for a minute, into the ‘Run Fitness’ groups and felt able in October last year to tackle my first 10km run. A photo of me at that run made me realise that the time was now right to try and lose the rest of the weight. I hadn’t put any on since taking up running, so I knew if I could finally achieve a healthy weight then this time it would stay off. A combination of regular running & Weight Watchers means I have lost another 2 stone and now find myself in ‘Run Plus’, the group for faster runners and I’m both proud, and surprised, to be there. I ‘m running about 5 miles, twice a week and feel quite frustrated when I can’t get out there to run. The social aspect of a running group and the support we give each other is really motivating. Chatting to the others means you can run a couple of miles without really noticing and there is always someone there to spur you on. If I can do it-anyone can!’