Lately I have been really into running.
It’s a new thing for me. I was never a runner and never planned on being one but something changed this year and I decided that I wanted to start running.
Running has so many benefits… it’s good for your health (apparently… just don’t read anything on the injuries runners get every year), you get to wear cute active wear AND you can catch up faster to the neighbourhood ice-cream truck!
I think part of it was needing something that was just for me. As a mum of three, I don’t have a lot of time for just me, so this sounded perfect and met all my criteria for a new hobby….
1. It was cheap
2. I could do it from home
3. No one could follow me if I ran fast enough haha
I also discovered that I am extremely motivated by bling… yeah, so shallow! There is nothing like a chunk of metal around your neck after a race to say “I achieved something.”
So in January I prepared for life as a runner. I found all my fitness gear from the bottom of my closet, dusted the dirt off my runners and downloaded an app to teach me how to run. Then suddenly I was a runner!
You know it does quite a bit for your self esteem when you go from everyday person to athlete. I basically became like a celebrity overnight! People would ask me about my runs, what times I was getting and what my goals were. I started learning the runners lingo like what a sub 30 was, all the fuss about PB’s and why I needed a Garmin. All of a sudden I was part of a secret club. Well, I guess it wasn’t very secret, just previously secret to me.
I did have a problem though. I was a chronic asthmatic. This meant that my whole dream of becoming a runner was fantastic in a distant dream kind of thing and entirely different in a practical manner. Instead of me looking like those cute girls with high ponytails running by in their fabulous Lorna Jane activewear, I looked more like a sick dog panting in the desert after a hot summers day! Ah well, we all have problems.
And then I added to the problems with a very inconvenient stress fracture (well technically two). This stopped my very short running career rather abruptly and all of a sudden I realised three things; if I didn’t run no one would give me any bling, running made me happy and my favourite show had just finished on Netflix!
There was only one thing to do (apart from eat chocolate)… allow myself time to heal.
Three months later I was inducted back into the runners club. The crowds cheered, people screamed my name and my eyes shone with future medals. Yeah, I have quite an imagination.
With a really awesome physio by my side (figuratively) I now have a proper training plan and some great running goals for the rest of the year.
Jonathon has been really supportive and has learnt fairly quickly that he actually is rather domesticated when he has to be. He is fast on the track to winning the World's most okayest dad!
So my running journey plods along slowly with my sights set on a half marathon in September. I figure if wheezy, asthmatic me with broken feet can run a half marathon, then I can do anything.
Because sometimes all we need to do is set our minds on something and keep going even when it gets tough. And here at Real Life Family, I’m about honesty. Oh and don’t forget to follow my journey on Instagram because who doesn’t want to see a picture of a sweaty runner crawling across a finish line LOL
Anyway, I’m off to eat a cupcake…