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'I Ran 30 Minutes Every Day For A Month - Here's What Happened'

"My nipple feels like it's about to be sawed off. It's absolute agony." - by Alex Pierotti
  • 29 Apr 2020

If you're just like me, chances are you've just taken up running as a hobby. Besides, what else is there to do apart from rewatch classics on Netflix or rearrange the house...again.

Sure, you'll see changes in your body - you might get fitter and you may even drop a few kilos – but just how quickly do they come? Well British vlogger Cookie decided to track the improvements by challenging himself to run 30 minutes for 30 consecutive days. 

WATCH: Here's How You Can Get Better At Running This Year

"It's very clear to see from my videos...I'm a chunky fella," he said. "I want to be able to change that, so I'm going to give this a go."

He also altered his diet, ditching the junk food.

"Before taking on this challenge, my diet has consisted of bad food: chips (a.k.a. fries), pizza, more chips, more pizza, burger, ice cream, chocolates, and the list goes on and on," he said.

His first run was tough: struggling after the first five minutes. 

"As the minutes went on, I could feel my body shaking as I ran. I think the thing that hurts me most is my calves," he said. "This is hard."

Day two was equally difficult and after the first mile, he had to stick to walking. 

Running 30 Minutes A Day For 30 Days And This Is What Happened

"I'll carry on running again in a minute," he said. "I think the idea is to keep moving at all times, don't stop."

It's not just his lack of fitness that he's contending with. 

"My nipple feels like it's about to be sawed off. It's absolute agony."

Day three saw big progress – Cookie managed 20 minutes straight – while day 7 brought changes to his body. "I feel leaner, I feel like I've got more energy," he said. After weighing himself, he found he'd lost about 3kg. 

The halfway mark presented a new challenge. Cookie was starting to lose motivation and overuse injuries started occuring. 

"I really don't want to run today," he said. "It's one of the first days where I really, really, really don't want to go out and do it. My ankles hurt. My Achilles hurt. I'm tired."

Despite struggling both physically and mentally, Cookie delivered his best result, managing six and a half kilometres. 

"I want this to be a lesson to myself and anyone watching," he said. "If you ever feel like you don't want to do something, just do it. Do it anyway. 'Cuz I'm so satisfied now. I'm so happy."

Just five days latter, he battled more anguish.

"I can run, and I can push it to the back of my mind. But afterwards, my legs hurt," he said. "The problem I've got is I've got no rest time. It's not enough time for a rest, and it's started to catch up with me. My left Achilles is really not comfortable at the minute."

Unfortunately for Cookie, by day 23 his task came to an abrupt end. 

"It all came to a stop. My legs just couldn't cope with it anymore," he says. "I'm really disappointed that it came to end the way it did. I was sure I was going to be able to complete this."

"That's what documenting things is all about," he said. "You can't just have the positive, and not have the negative. It's just not real."

"This experience has helped me in more ways than I was expecting though," he said. "I came into this thinking I would do it easily, I would lose a bit of weight, and that was it. It turns out though that I've learned a lot about myself as a person."

  • Fitness
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Alex Pierotti
Alex Pierotti
Alex Pierotti is the Digital Content Editor for Men's Health Australia, with experience reporting on health, fitness and sport. With a Journalism degree from UNSW under his belt, he got his start working in TV, working on the live broadcast of the Intrust Super Shute Shield on 7TWO before making the switch to print and digital at Pacific Magazines.

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