This weekend, I ran a half marathon. 21.1 km. Without stopping or walking in between, I ran the entire 21+ km to cross the finish line. In 2 hours 13 minutes and 57 seconds.
Two years ago, if you suggested I would run that far and for that long, I'd call you mad. Two years ago, I wore jeans to my first ever fun run just round the corner from home (Don't look at me strange, I did not own many sporty clothes back then, and whatever I did have was in the wash!). Two years ago, at that fun run I went to, I failed to run to even the first kilometre marker. I could see it in the distance, but my heart almost gave up as I staggered towards it and I came to a dead stop some 600 metres into the 5km race.
Back then I was a couch-bound nerdy night owl with a better chance of staying up to 5 am than waking up then. You wouldn't dream of having a meaningful conversation with me at ungodly hours such as 7 am! But something clicked in me in the week following my jeans-clad first fun-run. I was in agony (yes, even walking the 4.4 km took its toll on my never used muscles, for more than a week!) But more than that, I was embarrassed.70+ men running 10km in faster time than I could finish a 5km did not do much good to my ego! And that's when I decided to go out and do some running.
To say that running has changed my life would be an understatement. Knowing that I'd be no good at keeping up at it on my own, I joined a group with a trainer. A group that ran at 6 am (!!!@#$!@) twice a week. I started waking up at 5 am on those days, even on dark, cold, wet Melbourne mornings. And it was like a whole new world suddenly opened to me.
I made heaps of new friends I could now go out for dinners and coffees and movies to. I enrolled in more runs than I could ever imagine and discovered how tens of thousands of other people actually come to these things, and have fun. I started facing mornings with more energy. Eventually I started running 5Ks at a stretch, and moved on to 10Ks and 15Ks until, this weekend..
... I ran a half marathon. 21.1 km. Without stopping or walking in between, I ran the entire 21+ km to cross the finish line. In 2 hours 13 minutes and 57 seconds. And just like that, life was upsized.Top tips to get off the couch and start running:
- Join a group of runners, or likeminded friends. Someone to support you on days you are down, keep you accountable and haul you out of bed (or the pub) for that run you put down on your resolution, race (or pace) you to the finish.. A group adds the social component to running and makes it so much easier, and I doubt I'd have done even half the distance I do now without my running group.
- Look out for and enrol in the local fun runs. You'd be amazed at how many people turn up to these things, even on some of those miserably wet winter mornings! With km markers, volunteers handing out water and sports drinks, cheering spectators, timing chips and a clock at the finish - it is truly a "fun" part of running that I look forward to.
- Combine running with other passions in your life. For me, that passion is travelling. So in 2 months, I'm off to Port Douglas for the Great Barrier Reef run. It's a 10K that I hope to finish in under an hour and then I have the rest of the weekend to go snorkelling in the reef or walking in the Daintree. If your passion lies in photography, many run trails will give you incredibly beautiful subjects. You could fundraise for causes close to your heart, you could help others towards a better life through studies and work related to sports and nutrition, you could get into event management, open a running store or sponsor a run yourself. Make running a natural part of your life, instead of another task requiring more of your effort and attention.
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