What's your running motivation? 🤩🥕❤️👟📊🍰... - Bridge to 10K
What's your running motivation? 🤩🥕❤️👟📊🍰🏃🏽 Choose all that apply - and tell us more in the comments!!!
Please select all that apply:
I am shallow, I like to look and feel fit and strong 😏 And I'm a cake-eating nerd 😊
A comment made by a young lad in a holiday club I work at while playing hide and seek.. " she's coming,the fat lady" !!!
Stat nurding- love it!!
A combination of 3 things. 1. It is mostly, to help my mental health, I get depressed and have anxiety and running definitely helps with it. 2. To get a sense of achievement. For all the efforts you put in, you can see how far you've come. 3. When running regularly a very nice side effect is how it impacts on my body, it slims off my chunky calves and just tones everything up.
That is wonderful!!!
I just can't get enough of running. The feeling after a run is just brilliant
Oh yeah, can't beat that feeling!!
I started running and dieting at the same time to get fit and lose weight, both going well so far....
Awesome.
Originally it was to ensure I did some exercise as the children were growing up and wouldn't need me on the school run. Now it is because it makes me feel good and I can counteract the middle aged spread!!
That's so great!!
I really needed to lose weight and get my BP down. Now I’ve done that, I’m just addicted🤪
Health - addressing type 2 diabetes, in conjunction with improved diet. Working so far!
Love the running buzz and stomping all life's stresses back into proportion.
Want to get fit and just being able to walk out of the door and run so no excuses not to go - or not many! The feeling afterwards! 😋
Morning all my votes and reasons:
Feel fit and strong - Now over halfway on the bridge to 10K (8K - so far so good!)
I lost my mum in January and she's always on my mind - this is for you mum!
I'm a total gadget nerd, so playing with tech and understanding what I need to do to improve that extra % takes hours if I'm not careful lol!
I love food, but it doesn't love me - have lost 2 stone now (since April '18)
Entered my first ever race on 1st September - 10K! eeeeek!
❤️
fitness/health
enjoyment
"I am da man" (even when clearly I am not really 
)
Yes you are!
I have always been a walker and an outdoor person but somehow running for even a few seconds had me panting for breath. My bucket list includes running a half marathon. Earlier when ever I tried running I quit quickly as I thought it meant to run all out straight away which I couldn't do. Then I saw a mention of NHS C25K on the telly. I gave it a try a couple of years ago but gave up on W2 as my toddler would be howling the whole time that I was away. This time I gave it a try again, the older kid is now mature enough to wait though she still misses me and the baby doesn't mind. I am glad that I finished the 5k. Now that I can run a little, I enjoy it. It makes me feel good and energized.
Awesome!!! Apart from the kids this really chimes with my experience!
Fit, strong, also fun (mostly). Also: I want to stay healthy for longer.
Good thinking!!
My other - because at least once a week I run with friends AND to set an example for my children (who are both grown up but now who both run regularly as well as do other things to keep fit!)
Ooh, good ones!!! ❤️
How do I get my teenagers running? They won't even do a parkrun at their own pace.
I got my son started by asking him to pace me on some of my c25k runs (So much shorter than parkrun!). My daughter did her first parkrun (but failed to finish) because her then boyfriend fancied the idea. Then it became competitive! They each wanted to beat the other and beat me. The age grading at parkrun is brilliant for that as bit gives you a direct comparison (and I stayed in the lead for almost a year...!). If you keep going though and they see you being(or in my case getting!) healthy, it does sink in and they will see it as something 'normal ' to do. They'll get there eventually!
Improve my health-lose weight, manage menopause effects. 👍🏽 😎
I am more toned, I sleep better and just generally feel...happier😀
Just to raise money for two charities that mean a lot to me. I don't particularly enjoy running, but admit it's satisfying getting back after a long run, and of course I am fitter, in both mind and body. Haven't lost weight though! Not sure why.
To enjoy a sense of fitness and improved strength and stamina. An attempt to keep my body functioning as I approach 60 in a few years. To show that I really have cast off the Chronic Fatigue that stole a decade and more of my life and career. To find a sense of community in Parkrun in a new town. To challenge myself and find I enjoy it. It's a new sport for me when horse-riding, skiing and swimming are now too expensive and/or inconvenient.
This is so so wonderful - well done!!!
To look and feel as good as I can and to not give into aging gracefully! Hoping running will improve my bone density now I'm postmenopausal.
Bone density - excellent point!!
I honestly don't know why I started this, maybe it was a challenge, at 59 I never thought I would complete it, but I have just ran my 3rd post graduate run, it makes me feel good about myself. I can now run for 1.74 miles in 32mins which is unbelievable, my target has to be 2 miles in under 30 mins. If I ever succeed you will hear me scream no matter where you live.
Ha ha - brilliant!!!
Feel fit n strong, cake & nerdy but most importantly it helps with my mental issues/depression/anxiety.
I have always hated running but when i started boxing training we were sent on a run and i bottled it, feigning injury. I decided to do couch25k at that moment.
I dislike exercise but my body loves it. I love it when done! ☺😊
Ha ha ❤️
Once I turned 60 I began to think that I needed to do some more exercise to take me into my 70's so I had better start now
I am also a Morris Dancer having been so since my late teens and practice 2 hours a week as well as dancing out twice a month at events an folk festivals. Sometimes I can't get to practice because of work commitments so running is a good fall back exercise and I can do this whilst away with work
I find that running helps out with building stamina for doing our dancing.
As for the nerdy stats thing...I never thought I was a competitive type until I looked at the stats using Runkeeper. The data certainly drives me on to improve..god thing or bad thing!
I'm vain so running is perfect for me 🙄 It's made me a bit of a fitness bunny as I do so many different things now and I just love the whole shebang for what it does to my mind, body and soul. I run for the future too because I want to be as fit and strong as I can be when I'm in my dotage period 🙂
Nowadays, I feel invincible 💪💪💪 and want to feel that way as long as possible.
Oh, and I love races and bling......and the gear...... and the stats ....... and cake.....and..............
Ha ha ha - triple awesome!!! 😊
I’m not really sure I like the actual running 😱, but I like the space it gives me ( its all mine, all mine!); the health benefits of feeling fitter, maybe even a little bit invincible 💪🏻; chance to listen to my music on my way round 🎶; lots of lovely new gear and shoes 🏃🏼♀️; sense of accomplishment 🏅; obviously cake and that sublime cup of tea 🍰☕️! I also run because I can, and to raise £ for charities who looked after me when I was ill, and also in the memory of a dear friend.
I want to carry on eating and drinking the things I enjoy (in moderation of course) without them leading to middle age spread. I started this running lark a few years ago because I wanted to be fit at fifty, not fat at fifty. Objective achieved so now I’m heading towards fab and fit at fifty five 🤣😳🏃♀️!
BUT I have lost my running buddy AND I am caring for a dementia patient with a leg injury 24/7. So my motivation has plummeted! 
I started running to lose weight, and happily I'm a lot lighter now. However I have been lucky enough to get a huge bonus. I have a neurological condition known as Essential Tremor. It makes my hands tremble badly enough to prevent me from drinking from a glass or using cutlery. Running has almost completely fixed this - I hardly ever tremble any more. I can even play the piano properly again. Happy bunny 😀🎼🏃🏻♂️🎹
Oh Mike, that is just so wonderful!!!! There's a tear in my eye xxx
Wow Mike that's amazing! Enjoy your piano playing 🎶
My piano teacher was one of the first people to notice! So happy 😀
I like that running is so inclusive and can be enjoyed in so many different ways. I have bad memories of school PE and for many years believed I could not run.
I want to show my son (who I run with a lot) that it does not matter how fast you are as long as you're trying your best.
Having said that I'm secretly hoping that if I do get to do my Army entrance run it will be a mixed group so I can kick some of the blokes butts 😂🏃♀️💪🏋️♀️
Ha ha awesome!
And you will pianoteacher
I had raised cholesterol so just walking the dog each day was clearly not enough exercise!
It's certainly another level 😊
It is my ME time!
In fact, it is so precious that I haven't yet told my close family that I RUN!!
And the sad and shocking thing is that: no one has even noticed!
As everyone around me seems to be too busy to notice that I go missing for about an hour in the morning three times a week, that I have a growing collection of increasingly muddy trainers, that I frequently wash Lycra garments that were never seen around,... well, I have decided to keep this secret closely guarded. And I feel happy this way.
So, that's my motivation - to take a little bit of time when I do nothing for others, just something for myself, which keeps me sane
I love this so much! Well done 😊
Had heart attack, couldn’t fit any more walking in each day once I was back at work so had a choice....cycle or run. Hate cycling so running it was. Feel great, lost 5 stones through running and diet change (not allowed any cake now ☹️ but champagne is fine 😀) and just the best way to start the day. Oh and I 💕 all the clothing.
Cake... Although this month running is taking precedence over cake club. Shocking, I know. But also I am doing some races soon so keeping up the training. Then there is the sense of freedom I get from the runs.
But mostly cake 
CAKE!!!! 😊
Motivation to start running was an idle thought made real, mixed in with a mid-life crisis.
The ongoing reason is more habit and an addiction to stats. And my banana milkshake reward.
And filling that boring time of day from 7-8pm. And imaging that I look like Emma Peel in my black togs.
Emma Peel!!! 😊
I’m getting older and feel I need to exercise more and eat healthier! .... that sounds so boring but it’s true.
That's not boring, it's awesome!!!
Love it
My mum had type 2 diabetes and my dad had a stroke so I want to be fit and healthy and reduce the risk of following in their footsteps . I love running parkrun on Saturdays
Was a shock decision to start C25K and I'm still not too sure why i did. But I did and have kept going!! Folk at work can see the difference it's made in my appearance (a good thing!) And that is motivating to keep going. Then my partner started and completed C25K so I couldn't give up if he was doing it!! And the comparing of stats, well! And I'm quite partial to good food and wine and fizz so it keeps the weight at bay. Feeling confident and fab as I head towards 50....
I put wanting to feel fit and strong but chocolate and cake also feature strongly!! 😊
One day I just got up and did it for reasons I can't pin-point but for someone who is pretty sport averse it seemed the most accessible exercise. Whilst I was getting heavier and less fit this winter my father was learning to tap dance and my mum rides horses. They are both in their early eighties. So I thought " get up , get outside, banish the menopause gloom and the thyroid worries, get moving , get fit, look at the birdies and breath....".Loving it of course....
Improves my feeling of wellbeing, feel good afterwards. As a smoker of 20 years doing together with quitting for improved health. Enjoying it.😁
Awesome.
My motivation is escapism from the madness of everyday life (and cake of course)
I like time to listen to audio books with minimal other distractions (apart from not getting run over of course)
Oh wow, another good one!!
It all started off to prove to my Ex I could do something for myself on my own & excel in it & oh boy did I achieve it, I now look & feel good. It was great motivation to start with now I'm just self centred & want to look in everything including lycra 😂
You. Are. Awesome. xx
I picked up the running baton from a friend I lost to suicide a year ago to help stop me unravelling, and then found out I was OK at it so just kept going. I run for the space and to put things back in order. My cake intake has always been massive, so it's largely unaffected... 😊
A great de-stress activity. A 30 minute run at the end of a fraught and manic work day gives me some me-time to relax and reflect to put the events of the day in perspective... and just to mull things over when I need to make a decision
Personally I have found running has help me with depression and low mood more than therapy and popping pills has ever done
That is soooo wonderful!!!
It’s not how you start in life but how you finish, at 75 and if by magic I have been given the life’s blood of my soul, running.
I’ll be at the 50 years milestone next year and I was thinking about how my brother did not make it there.
So, I started running in memory of my brother and with the aim of feeling Fabulous when I do. I’m doing a charity race in September and please God, I want to lose some weight, like Berksrover and Lounge Lizaard and Telford_Mike!! 😍🙏🏽
Just a few bits then.....!😂 Still loving it!! ❤️
Wonderful!! xxx
Losing weight, blood pressure gradually coming down. This insane desire (haven't run since cross-country at school 30-something years ago) was triggered aged 50 by watching Clare Danes running in Homeland during a winter binge on the couch and thinking I want to be free in my body. I want it to do what it was designed to do. I want to live as young as I can and flit across the hills like an elf, or failing that, a long-distance dwarf...
Mainly to feel better about how fat I am, and the fact that my wife now thinks my legs are, to quote this morning, 'PHWOAAAR!' Plus, I don't feel guilty about all the cake anymore.
Oh, and I love how much better I feel and how my brain switches completely off when I run alone.
I want that endorphin rush. And right now, my wife is so pleased I'm getting fit that I get let of loads of stuff...
I also like it when parishioners walk up to me and say 'you've lost weight', and then I tell them 'I've taken up running'. The look on their face is priceless.
Ha ha - love it!!!
Don't need much motivation, I love running so it's easy to get up, lace up, and get out.
So running is its own motivation! That's wonderful 😊😊😊
I can hardly believe that "I love running" comes out of my mouth. Still not used to the idea that I'm a runner, 38 years of thinking they were nutters is hard to shake off 🤣
I know, right!!!??!!! 😊
