Happy new week lovely people, isn't time just zooming by, or is that just me?
I've been trying to think of a good topic lately but so many things pop in and out of my head I feel like I forget the best ones! 🤣🤣🤣
I was thinking this morning as I did my early, pre-work plod how much running, or certainly, fitness has changed me. Once upon a time if someone had said I would take up running in a big way I'd have laughed. Workout every morning? I'd have laughed harder. Swim in the sea in winter? Well I might have choked on my tea or spat it out with guffawing! 🙈
I've learned so many positive things about myself; that I'm far more determined and disciplined than I ever would have thought. That I've become much more open in thought and deed than I ever was. That, in fact I'm a much more positive individual than I ever realised or allowed myself to be! 💫
So what has your running, or fitness journey taught you along the way?
How are those new year goals coming along? Or just your weekly running, what is going right, or wrong just now? 🤔
If you're new to this board feel free to jump in and say hello. 👋🏻
Either way, have a fantastic week, I'm hoping for more sun and less high winds for this week as I'm not ready to take on surfing...just yet! 🤣🌊
The Marathon Team 😁
Pic is last Wednesday's swim, so calm, the sunshine was delightful, apart from the bobble hats and neoprene gloves you'd have thought it was summer. 👍🏻
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Running has been such a positive gift in so many ways. I only started C25K due to a miscarriage. I knew I had to do something for mental health. I never expected to love it & want to do it for the rest of my life.
Week 2 of my marathon plan started today. Back to 5 runs this week but only 16miles in total.
I was thankful for the reduced mileage last week on week 1 which was only 20k across 4 runs.
It looks as though the sea might be a bit friendlier this week 🐬
I realised quite a while ago that running has brought out my tough side, but more lately I've noticed that it gives me a much more balanced view of life! Drawing on experience and patience seems to be a good way to work though things, who knew? 😂
Actually, I think I just said basically what you said, so go us - we're both badasses 😊😊
Hi Jo! I think I am with you and Abi. Running has shown me my grittier side and I like it! But it’s also been a balancer. When hard things come along in the day I can often relate back to challenges on certain runs or races and know that there is an extra gear I can use if things really go south. It makes it easier not to worry so much and just deal with life as it comes. It has also ingrained in me the power of habit. Both good and bad ones. Something I hope to work on more this year. Finally, it has brought me closer to nature - the trees, rocks, wildlife and beautiful waters and skies are all gifts and energizing, I think.
Definitely, nature is such a huge benefit and it really does allow us to get closer to, and to see the natural world in its own elements 💖 I think it does teach us new ways to energise too, previously I would never consider that an energy sapping activity would actually give me more energy!! 👍🏻😁
My running started at age 66 as a response to recovering from a spinal fracture (spectacular fall on slush covered black ice). I had plenty of time to think, starting with the idea that I didn’t want to move seamlessly on into old age. I wanted to do something which took me into the wonderful woodlands and moors only 5 minutes from our front door. I didn’t fancy just walking….I wanted something to work on and develop. Fairly random googling produced the couch to 5k app. I expected to fail! The first few runs were quite painful; repeat tight achilles and calves, but I stuck with it and ended up amazing myself. I thought that completing the course would be the culmination….but no, I just had to push a bit harder and further to see what happened……and (ic spells apart!) it hasn’t stopped. What has running given me? Confidence, a challenge, sense of satisfaction, running buddies actual and virtual and the engagement with the great outdoors I was looking for. It is also an invaluable diversion when things get tough. I am not at all competitive…except with myself…. milestones like first 10k, 10 miles and HM gave me a buzz. PBs are the same (a while since I had one of those!) …but a nice steady 10k followed by my flat white (which just appears automatically when I appear at the cafe these days) is incredibly restorative.
What a great photo Jo! It definitely looks like a summer’s day 🌞
Like most of us, running has taught me so much more about myself. This all translates into real life in so many ways.
I grew up with two very sporty brothers, I was known as the “brainy” one who loved reading and even though I did swim regularly in my younger days, somehow the brothers overlooked this (as only brothers can 🙄) and I was always still known as the swot.
Roll on the years and running. As one brother says now to me regularly, “I can’t believe you’re a runner”. Mind you he’s the same person who told me that I use to run like Penelope Pitstop when I first told him I was running 😂 Sibling rivalry never changes 😍
I’m running a HM near him in the summer and he and SIL are coming along to see me. I know it’ll be emotional 🥲 for lots of reasons but mostly because we have different roles now in the family. Running has given me that and taught me how to embrace the change in me.
The other big thing running has taught me is that I know so much more about my body than I ever use to. I understand a lot more about how it works and how to feed it properly and move properly. Running and a brilliant Pilates teacher has done that.
Running has taught me that I want to be as fit and strong as I can be going into old age. That’s it really 🙂
Those are the best lessons, getting I touch with, and learning to listen to our bodies is so key. They should really teach it in school. Luckily we found the magic along the way 💫 Embracing change is the way to go!! 💞
After RED January I'm taking things much more easily this month. I've just taken my first double rest day for seven weeks. (The weather helped with that decision.)
What have I learned? That I'm not really that unfit kid who always got left behind when teams were being picked, and with the right sort of encouragement (and without the sarcasm and sadism dealt out by various PE teachers) I could have been a lot fitter in my younger years.
You really are amazing! My running has taught me so much. Shown me I can be pretty determined, shouldn't give up, can rise to (even seek out) a challenge. All good stuff. Really good stuff 🥰
I think that "seeking out" element is a big one. We naturally tend to ignore or shy away from challenges as we get older but you certainly have gone after challenge after challenge 💪🏻👍🏻 determined is an understatement! 😁💖
You're right, time is flying by, unlike my running, which remains in the doldrums, thanks to my stupid leg/hip. It's getting better slowly, it's just very frustrating, not least because I'd normally go for a run as a way of improving my mood.
What's running taught me? That I can do much more, physically, than I'd ever thought, and that I don't have to be ashamed of my non-model looks and body. I'd never have believed that when I hit my 60s I'd be fitter, stronger, more toned and happier with my body than any time in my life since early childhood.
Paradoxically, the more I run the more I realise that I'm not actually very interested in running! Or at least not the aspects that so many other runners seem to enjoy: PBs, races, ParkRuns, running clubs, watching videos, reading books, using apps and gadgets, following training plans, improving performance, technique and speed, etc. Those are just sources of stress for me, as they turn running back into the sort of performance and popularity contest at which I failed so miserably during school. So thanks, but no thanks.
On that note, it's glorious outside, so I think I'll go out and see if the wonky leg will let me play on one of the gentler forest trails for a bit.
💖 I love that it's given you a better relationship with your body. That's absolutely the best outcome.
I'm with you on the competitive side, I fail to become enthused by these aspects. "Playing out" is so much more fun and gives me longer lasting effects. To each their own of course, whatever works should be repeated 👍🏻🤣
Thanks GoGo_JoJo . I went for a run right after posting. 10km with 288m elevation on easy forest trails, almost no roads, so enough challenge but not too much. Wonky leg and hip held up fine, and I love my new bright pink trail top. As I got two in a sale deal that's just as well! Found a new route with bonus stream crossing - see photo, which makes it look much more impressive than it actually was - in real life it was only maybe 2m wide, and not deep at all.
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