This hack made a couch potato run a half marathon in six months. Use it for any goals of yours. Hisun Kim Follow Oct 23, 2019 · 5 min read

I was panting.

I was completely out of breath.

I thought I might just collapse on Embarcadero. I must have been running for quite a while now.

I was dying.

Too much running was about to finish me off!

And I glanced at the Fitbit watch on my wrist, expecting tens of minutes’ running duration.

45 seconds!

I ran the grand total of 45 seconds and thought I was dying of running.

It was a chilly morning of San Francisco back in January.

Throughout my entire life of 40+ years, I fought valiantly against sweating and panting. Even in my youth, I was the kid who never runs, and such personal distaste for cardio workout never changed over the years. I was the definition case of a couch potato in many ways for so long. Then what happened to me this year?

Last year, I left the startup I co-founded three years earlier. After three years of nonstop startup’ing (God knows what it all includes), I ended up with a severe lack of sleep and inevitable weight gain. To make matters worse, I was diagnosed with hypertension and put on the medication schedule. My doctor had been preaching about cardio, which I’ve been waving her off for so long. Finally, it was the time I couldn’t pretend there’s no need to change anymore.

So, I wrote down in my 2019 resolutions: Run 5K twice this year. (Ha. Ha. Ha.)

I remember I felt defeated even before I finish writing that resolution line. I knew I didn’t have enough willpower to push through the persistent running practice. I knew that I would try once or twice then make endless excuses not to go out for running. The image of myself copying and pasting the same goal to the 2020 resolutions flashed in my head. I doubted whether this year would be ever different from all other years when I had similar goals and failed miserably.

This year was different!

This year, my weak willpower was outsourced to a stronger force — my friends!

This year, I had a small group of seven friends (and friends of friends) for an ongoing group chat. We bonded over online conversations and formed further rapport in life and career. We were spread on three continents, and some of us never met each other in person. But this group has become a safe place, and a robust support network. I told these friends that I planned to run two 5Ks this year, which immediately became something of accountability.

When I finally saved my face and went out to the road to jog lasting for the grand total of 45 seconds, it was January 14th. From then to the SF Half Marathon on July 28th, my friends made me keep going for morning runs, rain or shine, at home or on trips. It was well beyond what my feeble willpower would have ever done.

It started with a self-deprecating chat message telling them how pathetic I was with that 45-second running. My good friends were laughing with me but also were kind to encourage me. That was the start.

I went out running next time, thanks to the lightheartedness from the group chat. At first, it wasn’t more than jogging any duration I could do (1 min or less) and walking 4–5 minutes for recovery, then repeat for about 10–15 minutes. While I was still plodding, gradually, the jogging duration became 2 min, 5 min, 15 min, 30 min, and 60 min+ without stopping to catch a breath.

Each time I was done with running and walking home, I took a screenshot of the Strava app synced with my Fitbit watch with the beautiful map and stats. My routine was posting that screenshot to the group chat to track with friends. It was fun to report the slow but consistent gain of running distance, and my friends also had fun looking at my progress visualized. Friends commented, joked, gave encouragement, and even threw in fun favors (like drawing a picture on the Strava map with running). I ran alone, but I felt (virtually) surrounded by friends chattering about the run. The fun factor got me a habit of running and reporting back to friends 3–4 times a week, even when I was at a standstill or a slump with bodily conditions.

Whenever I beat my longest run record, my friends nodded. Whenever I finished a race, they cheered. (All online; in a group chat; with messages, emojis, and giphys.) They celebrated milestones with me. From provoking (to go for a seemingly unattainable goal like a half marathon) to celebrating the achievement, they provided me with a positive confirmation mechanism.

With these casual pushes and enthusiastic cheers from friends, I have done so far….

Mar 17: 5K run at St. Patty’s Day 5K Race . Friends outbursting with cheers in the chat room.

. Friends outbursting with cheers in the chat room. Mar 29: First full coverage of 10K(=6.2miles) during the Singapore trip. Ran in the tropical rain and got showered with friends cheers afterward.

during the Singapore trip. Ran in the tropical rain and got showered with friends cheers afterward. Apr 14: Ran 10K at the Levi’s Presidio 10 .

. May 19: Ran the Bay to Breakers 12K

July 28: Ran the Biofreeze SF Marathon’s 1st half

Aug 25: Ran the Bridge-to-Bridge 12K

Sep 8: Ran the Giant Race Half Marathon

Nov 3: (Signed up & prepared for the Golden Gate Half Marathon)

July 2020: (Signed up for the full marathon at the Biofreeze SF Marathon 2020)

This year was…..very different.

And it’s not all yet.

I surprised myself the most with these achievements — something I haven’t even thought possible for me. Moreover, I take pride in inspiring several friends to take running themselves along the way.

So, I created an app to help other people benefit from my method of pulling willpower from friends’ support. Getting your friends involved in a fun way would do wonder in making daily progress towards your tough challenges.

The app is called CoDo App for collaborative doing. The CoDo App enables you to co-track, co-celebrate, and co-achieve with your friends easily.

Download the CoDo App from:

https://codoapp.co/appstore

And bring on your friends to your challenges in the CoDo App. I hope you can find your stronger self while having fun with friends as I did! Cheers!