"I did it!!! This morning I completed the DediKate6K 7 week running challenge!

I have not run in a long time and would never identify as a "runner" but when this challenge came up on the DediKate site I was keen to give it a go. For a few reasons some friends and I are planning on entering an Xterra trail run in July and I wasn't even sure I could run the short coarse! and we recently brought our first home - which has footpaths and street lights outside the front door (coming from a rural place this was very exciting and gave me no more excuses not to get out and do a morning run before work!)

Doing the initial run I was surprised that I was able to get through the whole 6km so that was an achievement in itself. I continued to follow the 7 week programme ticking off each day and completing all the steady and fast runs set out in the program. I loved the feeling I got after each run and was amazed to see week on week improvements with my times. My initial 6km run took 47:13 mins so I made a goal to do it in 42 minutes and half way through the challenge decided to change it to 38 minutes and today I ran the final 6km in 37:21 mins which is nearly 10 minutes off my original time! I'm really proud of this achievement and looking forward to another challenge and maybe doing the 10km Running Plan.

Thank you for the amazing resources and the variety of workouts you provide. I'm so glad I found DediKate last September in the New World 28 Day challenge, it has made exercising so much more accessible for me being a mum of 2 and working full time!

Amy"

"I got the 6k challenge done. Not how I had planned though!

My first 6km time was 39.01 which I was quite surprised about and my final time was 35.36 which I am super happy about.

Life has been pretty busy especially during the last few months. Much busier than I had anticipated. My partner went maize driving and I worked on the farm which doesn't normally happen. It was calving time as well. I had been told it wouldn't be too bad just one calf a day maybe every couple days but that wasn't the case. I got sick twice for a week at a time.

Over the 7 weeks I only managed to do 12 workouts which consisted of one run (not including the two 6km runs), Power Sessions, BOXfit and Calme and Yoga. Most of the time I also had in my mind that I wanted to do well and beat my first time, which meant I pushed myself when putting up fences etc. The final run went pretty good. I did lots of stretching in the morning during milking and positive thoughts as well. At the start of the run I felt good - I then dropped my phone and lost my rhythm and took a bit to get back and got the stitch near the end. Overall I am really happy and surprised with my time!

Thanks, Stacey"