Actress Lena Dunham has overcome her fear of embarrassment while running, insisting her perseverance has paid off as she now feels "strong, swift and proud".

The Girls creator and star reveals she forced herself to take up the exercise in preparation for filming on her hit TV drama, after her co-director, Jenni Konner, convinced Dunham her character should "evolve" as a runner.

She slipped into skintight work out gear for the shoot of the new season finale in New York on Wednesday (29Jul15) and was snapped by paparazzi, but instead of shun the photo, Dunham decided to share it on her Instagram.com page, because she has learned to embrace the activity.

In the picture caption, she writes, "Not usually one to post a paparazzi shot but this fills me with pride. Basically my whole life I have hated running and run like a wounded baby Pterodactyl. It was embarrassing and honestly I did not trust myself to escape a burning building or even move briskly towards a buffet.

"@jennikonner is directing the season finale of Girls and decided that as Hannah evolved so would her run, so she got me a training session with Matt Wilpers from Mile High Run Club. Within an hour I had a different relationship to this formerly torturous activity. I felt strong, swift and proud. I'm not about to embrace that triathlon life but it's a true joy to continue getting more connected to my body and its powers."