running

I have always wanted to be a runner. It's something that has always interested me and I've always wanted to be good at it, but I never had the confidence to just go for it. This was until about six months ago. One of my friends was interested in losing weight, and asked me for advice on how she could do it healthily. As well as eating healthily, I told her she needed to exercise. Like me, she didn't have the confidence to just go out and start a whole new sport on her own. One day she suggested to me that we should go running. I was honestly so happy that she suggested it!

We went on our first run, and within about two hundred meters we were walking, realising how unfit we really were, but refusing to give up. We walked and ran around a nice path that goes past some beautiful nature. We continued to go a few more times every few days, however my friend sadly lost interest in running and became too busy to try to get back into it. This was when I started to run with someone else.

I'd run with them at night when it was dark and no one was around. With them I progressed from eight minute kilometres to five minute kilometres. We'd run together three or four times a week. This was until I got injured. I don't completely remember how it happened, but I injured my knee so badly that I was unable to walk for a week, and struggled to walk very far for the next week. 

Despite injuries, aches and pains I have not given up, because it's something I have always wanted to do, so I will keep at it. 

Running has been an amazing coping mechanism for me, my fastest kilometre time (4:36) was actually done when someone had really upset me and I'd just had enough of everything. Instead of doing something that I'd regret, I decided to put on my running shoes and just go. I ran as I was crying. Thankfully it was late at night so no one saw me, but I felt a lot better after running. Running really helps me to sort out my emotions. When I feel bad, going for a run helps me most of the time.

Running helps not only my mind, but also my body. I've become so much fitter and healthier since I started running, and I'm honestly so glad that I did start running!

I have run in two races for charity (10k and more recently a 5k). In both of these races, I didn't really do that well at all, because I was very unwell for a few weeks before the 10k so had to stop my training during that time, and I had an injury before and during my 5k race. I really enjoyed taking part in these races, even though it was not a nice experience for my body, it was a lovely experience for my mind. Races encourage me to find an inner strength which I didn't know I had. Lots of people say I am strong already, but when I run I become very weak. As soon as my mind wants me to stop, I stop. It's a weakness I have found in myself, but I actually really like it, because it encourages me to want to keep going so that one day I can be stronger than my desire to stop.

I'm planning on starting training for a half marathon soon, not for any race in particular, but because distance running is something I've dreamed of being able to do. If I can find a race close to the end of my training, then I think I will compete in it, however I'm doing this just for a personal achievement, not with the aim of competing. 

One of the best benefits I have discovered from running is that my confidence has increased so much. I'm now more confident with how I look, and who I am. Running just gives me an amazing sense of self belief. I know I'm definitely not the best runner in the world, but I am not the worst, and I will keep going. 

I am an all weather runner, I will run no matter what.