I have never been into sports, even as a child I used to try and find every excuse possible to get out of my PE lessons. It just has no interest to me at all. Why would I want to go outside, get all sweaty and make myself tired? No thanks. Even as an adult I struggle with liking exercise, putting off going to the gym and having to force myself to make it there. Thing is now I’m older I want to be healthier and fitter, so why can’t I encourage myself to do this?
Then a few months ago I got the kick up the bum I needed, when a group of friends encouraged me to sign up to a 5K mud run at the end of September. At the time I couldn’t run at all, and I was super unfit, so why I thought this would be a good idea I don’t know.
Although I spent a few weeks cursing my friends for forcing me to sign up to this, I then thought that I really better get down the gym and start training for it. As I’m no frequent gym goer I decided to start training for it a good 5 months in advance, so I could build up my stamina and strength. I also hired a personal trainer, as I really struggle with my motivation, and I wanted someone to push me to make sure I can actually get through this 5K mud run without dying.
Then it came to finally learning to run. Although I signed up to this I never thought I would actually be running it. I don’t run, I never have, and I didn’t think I ever could. Thing is being a slightly larger, plus-sized lady I thought I’d look stupid if I started running. I don’t know why, but I thought people would start to laugh at me, and that I wouldn’t really get anywhere with it. It was only after talking about this with my personal trainer that he then inspired me to start learning to run, as he said even if you can only manage a small run, you’ll still be overlapping everyone on the sofa.
So with his help, I’ve started learning to run. We started small, doing a minute walking and a minute jogging until I could eventually go longer without having to stop, and before I knew it I’d already run 1K. Each week he made me run further, and for longer and now I can run 3.5K, which for me is amazing! I’ve got just over a month to go now until my mud run and I’m starting to think I’ll actually be able to make it round without killing over half way.
If you’d told me a few months ago that I was running, and actually enjoying it, I’d never have believed you. It’s made me think more about what other fitness activities I should try. I’ve always thought about trying yoga or pilates, but maybe now I’m a bit more active I could try one of these fitness trends that look a little more interesting. You never know I might find something else I love to do!
