I apologize for how negative that sounds! It’s been 3 months. I unfortunately can’t be as consistent as I’d like because of chronic utis. I currently go about 8-10 km/h for 20 mins at a time, 2-3 times a week when I’m healthy. I keep at it because I’ve noticed a boost in my general energy and mood, but I hate pretty much every second of actually running. I read that that’s normal as you start out, especially if you start from zero like I did. But I’ve also read you eventually start to tolerate and then later enjoy it. How long did it take for you to get to that point?
Edit: 5 month update on case someone stumbles across this. My progress is slow, due to frequent breaks due to my frequent colds and UTIs. I’m at 30min 5k. Running still sucks, in part, but it also feels…powerful? I’ve learned to pace myself and run slower, so I’m not all spent after 10 mins. It’s difficult, but I think running too fast really was the biggest problem. Now what I feel during a run is a mix of ‘ughgh I hate cardio’ and ‘this is amazing, I’m powerful, I can do anything I want’. That’s enough to keep motivated. The reason I keep it up is that the former feeling ends soon after the end of the run, but the latter one persists. I try to run twice a week. If I have the time, I go on a hike instead (I live in the mountains). I enjoy those a lot more, but they take up several hours as opposed to 30mins for a run. It’s helped me tremendously with my depression, so it’s so worth it.
Tldr: I still don’t enjoy every second of running, but pacing myself made it more enjoyable than before. And it’s SO worth the mood boost and extra energy (even on rest days). I have depression and I’ve never felt this good in my entire 10 years of being an adult.
As soon as you slow down to a level that doesn’t exhaust you. c25k is a great program cause it includes walking and gets you out of the mindset that you have to be running the whole time. (Sports scientists found out that even experienced amateur marathon runners are actually faster when they include walking breaks during competition.) But if it truly isn’t fun for you then find a different sport that is.
Also depends a lot on your neighborhood. Running in the city on asphalt sucks, I am lucky enough to live in an area where I can run on trails. The first time you surprise a herd of deer on your morning run is a magical moment.
I’ve tried to follow that but kind of half abandoned it because it just doesn’t really work the same way when you have to take every other week off sometimes. So my following of it is rather loose.
I do enjoy my routes. It’s not as awesome as seeing deer but I live in a very green city.
The thing is, I’ve tried other activities, and it seems that the common denominator of what I hate is cardio. And I don’t want to give up on that in general, health, energy, and mood-wise.