Baby We Were Born To Run

This time last year, my wussy friend from the metaphorical boulder story and I somehow stupidly decided to run a 5k because “it might be fun”. So we trained, jumped on board the charity sponsorship train and ran until we couldn’t run anymore. Imagine Forrest Gump crossed with Phoebe from Friends.

Surprisingly, we managed to follow through our good intentions of keeping fit (well, sort of…) and completed our 5k without dying. The only downfall was the lengthy break from late summer to Christmas where the only things we ran for were local transport and happy hours... oops!

To add to our lack of dedication, this past Christmas was the first in six years where I wasn’t ill and, with the threat of illness beckoning from my sniffly and coughing parents, I didn’t waste any time as far as enjoying my food was concerned. Thus I more or less inhaled my Christmas dinner followed by two helpings of Christmas pudding, trifle and Christmas cake. And then a bit later on, some Cadbury roses… and half a chocolate orange… and some shortbread. You get the point. Anyway, by the time Christmas was over we could both physically feel the error of our ways and realised we’d arrived at the point where we needed to start running again before our arteries completely blocked. 

So here we are: we’ve been running regularly since the beginning of the year and have both commented on how much easier we’ve found it this time round. When we first started out last year, we ran 50 yards and practically fell on the floor. This time we were a little rusty but managed our usual training route without needing any breathing equipment or the emergency services. Huzzah! Problem was, what with the excitement / delirium of running 6.7k for the first time in four months without dying, the stupid parts of our brains kicked in and we somehow arrived at the conclusion that we should run a 10k. Not only that, but we needed to run a 5k beforehand to practice. Simples! 

I do often wonder how exactly my brain convinces me that these “brilliant plans” I come up with are in fact brilliant. They’re always followed by that same awful feeling you get when wake up hungover and realise you’ve drunkenly ordered everything off your Amazon wish list…

So what was originally an attempt to keep fit and stay active has developed into something much more. A year on, and it’s all about pride, self-worth and apparently achieving “good Australia legs”. One of my friends says I need to be fit enough to keep up with the hot Australian surfer guys and still look moderately attractive. This would be less daunting if we didn’t literally run around a lake towards a burger van every week! (I’m not even kidding about this – we indulge in a cheese burger or bacon roll as soon as we’ve crossed the finish line. Don’t judge.)

Aaaanyway, enough about that. In a nut shell, I’m running a 5k and a 10k this year and I’m doing it in aid of the British Heart Foundation and the RNLI. You can read more about the charities I support by visiting my new Charities page, or read about my involvement and even sponsor me by clicking HERE.