BACK UP AND RUNNING

There have been times that I didn’t love running, because I also love to sit on the sofa watching football on TV. I still do it, but now my spare time is also filled with exercise. I’m not made to do it, but I love it and feel fortunate to be able to.

_{With former Olympic Champion Henry Rono}

I decided to spend less time indoors and more time moving my body about six weeks ago in Moscow, after years of inactivity, stuffing my face with junk and generally being lazy. I had gained 15kg in body weight, lacked energy, my clothes no longer fitted me, I lost confidence and I did not feel good or have any motivation at all.

The decision was an easy one to make, as I recently found out that my fiancé is expecting! But despite the easy decision, doing it was much more difficult. I was comfortable on the sofa, both literally and emotionally. But I got up, have started running again and fallen back in love with a sport that makes me fitter and stronger. Although it has only been 6 weeks, looking back on being out of shape and the exhausting attempts to start running again makes me feel like I was a whole different person to who I am now. It was freezing, but I’m glad I kept going back out in the snow.

_{It's easy to love the TV when winter is like this}

Growing up, my life revolved around sports. At nine years old, I joined my local athletics club. I won many medals at national level and was privileged to represent my country on five occasions internationally. Despite my lack of access to quality training, my efforts on the track gifted me the opportunity to pursue an athletics career in the USA.

_{Nine year old me, front left wearing number 3}

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However, it didn’t work out. For one reason or another, it was a difficult adjustment and lots of factors contributed towards me not having the right attitude. I couldn’t make the transition and 18 months later I had fallen out of love with the sport. I promptly returned home, went to university, travelled, started a business, met my fiancé and so on.

_{With my fiancé (Victoria) in Moscow}

I didn’t see this coming, but I miss lots of things about life as an athlete. I missed getting lost in my thoughts on a recovery run. I miss being in peak physical condition. I ‘miss’ pushing hard during a lactic session and the feeling of satisfaction that followed exhaustion. I miss competing internationally, and I miss all of the great friendships and comradery that I shared with my teammates and training partners.

_{Competing for my Scotland, 2007 Celtic Games 4x400m, tight navy shorts}

And there I was four weeks ago, struggling to complete a 3-mile run, and being concerned about how slow I was plodding along. I had that anxious feeling where you feel out of place and that everyone is looking at you. But, I remember how long I was inactive, and though it’s at a slow pace and takes a while to recover from, I’ve gradually built back up to running 7 miles. I’ve also shaved close to 5 minutes off of my 3-mile time since starting back up.

_{3 mile run before}

_{3 mile run progression, four weeks later on the same route}

It’s not my first time running, and I know exactly what it does to my body. Just heading out and running as far as I can, is not the way to progress without injuries. I am picking up niggles here and there, but I’m not one to search for excuses not to run. I am feeling stronger with each and every run!

_{Recent 7 mile run}

_{A few photos from the above routes}

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I had no real plan of what I was doing. I started with the simple goal of losing weight, but I have already shredded 8 kilograms! As I started running more, I fell back in love with a sport that makes me fitter and my goals have changed.

My Running Goals:

Run a sub 19 min 5K in 2019
Run a sub 40 min 10K in 2019
Run a half marathon quicker than 1:45 in 2019
To complete one of the above overseas (Beyond Edinburgh / Moscow)

My Fitness Goals:

Maintain weight loss and calorie deficit until I hit 65 – 67kg (currently 72)
Make my body stronger through weights training at the gym
Fit different types of exercise into my routine (Hiking)
Interact more with the running community
Become an athletics coach (one day)

Many of these are short term goals, and I know that updating my progress on Steemit will keep me motivated. Currently, my main focus is to get fitter, improve recovery, increase weekly mileage, enter parkruns and build a good fitness base before increasing the workload over the winter. As I haven’t run a competitive 10K or half marathon before, I’ll PB no matter what, but I’d like to get a time that I’m happy with.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading!

Do you Run? What are your goals? Do you think I’ll make it?