I am running the London Landmarks half marathon in April. This is a huge challenge for me as before I had signed up for this, I had only run 5km, a couple of times, before children, at race for life events.
My friend is a cancer survivor and has taken up running and she is flying. She hadn't run before really and she became an absolute inspiration to me. I spoke to her and asked if she would be up for running a half marathon and she said yes, so the journey began back in July last year. She was already running 10km so I had a long way to catch up with her.
I had always found running hard work and never really enjoyed it either. I never completed the couch to 5km even though I tried it twice and in the end I just thought I am going to do it my way and just run 1km. I remember coming home having run that 1km and being so pleased.
I didn't believe I would get to 5km and it has been an absolute battle with my mindset to stop saying I'm not a runner and say I am a runner and believe it. I used to compare myself to my husband, my sister in law and my friend, Lucy, who are all excellent runners and have done crazy long races and just love running. I needed to stop doing that, so I did.
When I started being able to run 5km towards the end of last year, it was absolutely incredible. I felt like I could take on the world, that I was super human and I was sooooo proud of myself. It didn't matter what anyone else thought, I didn't compare myself to anyone else, I was just so happy for me, knowing what an achievement it was, for me.
This year I have managed to run 10km twice and it has blown my mind. I actually rang Rich, my husband, and said, "Your wife is a 10km runner!!"
I run loops of 4km in our village and I like that. I have found what works for me and I am excited about running 12km this weekend, 16km the weekend after and then it will only be 2 weeks to race day. I am surprised that I am enjoying my running and very grateful that I can.
Sometimes we just have to step out of our comfort zone and do something that maybe we don't think we can do but we go for it anyway. As Yoda says "Do or do not, there is no try".
I am sharing my sponsorship page below mainly because it explains why I am supporting alzheimers and shares my mums story, but of course if you would like to sponsor me too, that would be great!!
Thank you x
