In 2014, one year into my weight-loss journey, I took my first steps towards becoming a runner. Using a C25K (Couch to 5K) app on my phone, I hit the streets and slowly transitioned from walking to running. After some trial and error, and some minor injuries, I finally felt comfortable enough to start to enter local 5k races in January 2015.
After the first few races, I was only able to make it through those first couple miles before I was gassed. I’d end up doing a walk/run over the last mile. While the C25K training got me going, it was apparent that I had a number of lessons left to learn, and looked to local coaching programs to get me through a race.