You want to get fitter, get healthier, improve your eating or exercise habits, lose weight, tone up...? But how? You're finding it difficult to get started or to find motivation to keep going. What's the secret? The "problem" with losing weight, getting fit etc etc is that there's no fast-track. Anyone who offers a magic bullet - lose half a stone per week, get fit in 3 minutes per day and all of that is just selling snake oil. So how can you not just start your journey but continue it as well? Well the good news is... 1. You don't have to be perfect all the time! You don't want to give up cake, biscuits, slumping on the sofa? No problem! You don't have to. Try an 80:20 approach - be "good" 80% of the time, but don't deny yourself life's pleasures.
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My first attempts at running were half-hearted (and short lived). I started out with NHS couch to 5k in April 2014 (for some reason I had a random urge to try running) and gave up within a week. I found the run-walk combo hard (not to mention the fact that my lifetime mantra had been "I can't run"). Fast forward a couple of months and my then 10-year-old son (Jamie) and I had entered our local Race for Life. We were planning on walking - all the way up until they separated people into runners, joggers and walkers, when Jamie decided he wanted to try jogging. So we joined the joggers and walk-ran the course. The little swine raced off with 50m to go and "beat" me, but we finished in about 38 minutes - my first 5k (and his). The next day I was in AGONY with DOMS, my quads were on fire, but I also felt fabulous. I continued running on and off for the rest of the summer until I picked up an injury (ok, two inuries - plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendonitis). I could barely walk, let alone run. In 2015, I don't think I really ran much, although I was cycling quite a lot and had joined the gym over the winter. I didn't have much time to exercise as my husband and I were busy starting our own business. That was my excuse. That, and running was hard work! Anyway, I digress. I ran on and off during 2015-2016, including a couple of events and my first 10k. Then last year, I entered my first half marathon (Reading) - something I thought I'd never be capable of. In fact, the previous year I'd been out running a strained 2 miles when I saw people walking home from RHM and thought to myself "I could never do that"... An injury 5 weeks before the big day (ankle thing, ran on it as a niggle then couldn't walk - lesson learned) left me frustrated and that's when I took up yoga (highly recommended, but that's a different post). Nonetheless, I completed it in 2:10:56 and (foolishly) entered a marathon whilst on an endorphin high. 2017 also saw me entering my first 24 hour event (Cotswold 24) which I think may be the most awesome thing I've ever done, despite how difficult it was. The marathon...well I completed it (see earlier blog post), but I'm still in my "never again" frame of mind almost 4 months later). Do I love running? Sometimes. Do I always want to go out when it's a "run day"? No. Do I always go out when it's a "run day"? Usually. What motivates me to run when I don't feel like it? Me. There were definitely (often long) periods of time since my couch-5k days when I didn't run for days, weeks or months. Of course it niggled in the back of my mind, but I didn't do it and as a result, I couldn't eat as much (which has to be a great reason for running, right?), felt more sluggish and had less muscle and more fat. So what is it that makes me head out regularly now? 3-4 times per week, whatever the weather? Me... And the fact that I want to be fit and healthy for my family. And because, well, I like cake! If I don't do this for myself, nobody will do it for me, will they? And if I want to feel better and be happy with what I see in the mirror (that's a whole other post), then I have to get off my butt and do something, even if it's windy, raining or snowing (common weather themes this winter in the UK). Last Wednesday, I didn't feel like running. So I thought "how can I do something worthwhile that will be over as quickly as possible?" I ran a mile around the block as fast as I could. 8 minutes 41 seconds I think. It hurt a bit, but I'd run. Job done. So next time you're lacking motivation (not even just for running), remember who you're doing it for. And that nobody can do it for you except...you. What motivates you?
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May 2018
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