Graduation - Take 2!

[Rhedwr]

Arctic winds? Pah!! I laugh in the face of arctic winds! 

I graduated last September, days before being diagnosed with a chronic bowel disease, which arrived with a side order of chronic fatigue. 4 months of total and utter exhaustion, joint pain, rubbish sleep and reduced working hours left me pretty despondent, it has to be said. I believed iI'd never run again. 

But I started running again 9 weeks ago and today I (re)graduated at Parkrun, with the biggest smile on my face and a heart fit to burst!  My lovely friend ran with me, to help keep me going, and I told her the aim of the day was to make 30mins non-stop. We did that, then after a quick review of the situation we decided that we'd just go a bit further.... until we NEEDED to stop, rather than WANTED to. 

Well, you guessed it - we ran the whole 5k!!  It was slow, but it was a steady pace, and it means that I know that my body is capable of 5k - I just need to work on my mind now. 

Mighty chuffed!  🏃🏻😃

[gdcgray Graduate]

wow!!   Man you are serious encouragement to me and I am sure many others.  Big, Big Congratulations!  I love this forum for this very reason. Real, honest people like you.

[Rhedwr Graduate in reply to gdcgray]

BTW, I'm 54.  Don't let your age define you.

[JaySeeSkinny Graduate]

Big cheer and congratulations on re-graduating! Great that you can run again and glad the bowel disease is under control. There's no stopping you now!

[Rhedwr Graduate in reply to JaySeeSkinny]

Thanks! 

[Rignold]

Brilliant work. Well done.

[Hidden]

Massive well done to you

[Sandraj39 Graduate]

Great post and a really positive story! Congratulations on graduating🙂

[AncientMum Graduate]

Massive congratulations Rhed, just brilliant. The second graduation mis just a sweet as the first, isn't it! 😀😀

[Rhedwr Graduate in reply to AncientMum]

Indeed.  But let's hope I never have to start from scratch again! 😊

[poppypug Graduate]

Fantastic ! Well done on overcoming such a debilitating condition , and getting back out there .

Many Congratulations to you !

Lovely post, thanks for sharing xxx

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Just wow! Well done on all counts

[Son1 Graduate]

Congratulations and thanks for posting, great going!

I have IBD and it can be pretty miserable, so it's good to see these inspiring achievements.  I've just finished week 4  

[Rhedwr Graduate in reply to Son1]

Sorry to hear that - tough, isn't it! 

Well done on finishing week 4. Are you feeling strong? 🏃🏻

[Son1 Graduate in reply to Rhedwr]

Oh yes it can be real tough, been about 6 years now.  I find that it comes in phases (and for me stress can bring a relapse), but good at the moment.  Hope that you stay well.

Week 4 was good thanks, feeling a bit scared of the end of week 5 though *gulps*

[Rhedwr Graduate in reply to Son1]

Don't worry about Week5. Just keep doing what you've done so far.  You already know that it is a step up, but it's more about your mind than your legs.  

Go for it! 🏃

[Son1 Graduate in reply to Rhedwr]

Thanks

[Ullyrunner Graduate]

How fantastic! So glad you've got back to it. Fab photo - your delight shines through!

[Rhedwr Graduate in reply to Ullyrunner]

That's not me - that's a friend who is a real runner (he did 22mins yesterday), celebrating my finish.  He's been a great support as I've got back into it, and he was the one who convinced me to go for Parkrun for graduation.  I was tempted to do my usual course, but he said it'd be more of an occasion at Parkrun. He was right!! 😊

[Ullyrunner Graduate in reply to Rhedwr]

Ooh sorry! Did I give you a sex change too?

[Rhedwr Graduate in reply to Ullyrunner]

Yes! But I hadn't realised Matt was even in the pic when I took it. I thought I only had the flag! 😊