I wanted to start writing this post as I have been in a bit of a slump recently. The past two years I’m sure you can agree have been more than hard and I always feel like near the start of the new year it’s nice to have a fresh start and press the reset button. I’ll be honest I haven’t been happy with myself recently and I have lost all my confidence, but I am determined to get it back! I am actually one of those weird people that enjoys writing goals for the new year. I’m not a new year new me sort of person as I can never not be myself, but if I’m feeling a bit unhappy I like to do a few changes to tweak my mindset and put me in a better mood. I am really determined to up my fitness again in 2022 as I have a massive goal to achieve (if I get in!) I crazily entered the London Marathon for 2022! If I don’t get a place I am still going to enter myself in another event which I really feel helps me focus on getting motivated if I have something to train for.
L-R Me and Soph at our very first park run, Me and Soph after some training for the Great South Run, With our medals at the Great South Run 2018, Feeling good before a swim, In my Southampton Hospital Charity vest for my 1st Half Marathon, Me and Liam at Southampton Half, Me and Laura from my children’s ward at Southampton half, Me Laura and Amanda my colleagues I worked with to raise money for our ward, My 2nd Half marathon along Bournemouth Pier, Me and my best friend Ujal at my 3rd most recent half marathon in Oxford 2021.
I have not always been into running in fact at school it was always my twin sister Georgina that was the sporty one (Pic below of Me and Georgina after a run). However, it was my older sister Sophie that got me into running. Here are my top tips if you want to start out running…
- Join in at park runs! – Park runs are available all over the world and everyone of all abilities can join for free! This is how I started out as Sophie asked me to go with her I had never heard of it before! It is the most loveliest atmosphere and a real friendly community. You can even walk it if you want too, there really is no judgement however you do the 5K! Recently I got told by a lady that I encouraged her to keep going and I was so fast! Haha me fast but was a lovely comment to receive and made me think hmm I’m not as bad as this as I thought! Find your local park run and give it a go!
- Set a goal- Recently I’m finding it a bit of a struggle to do 5K sometimes. So if I’m going out for a run I set a goal so shorter distances such as 2K and 3K then I don’t find it so daunting and I feel I’ve achieved still. I’m trying to build it up then it will become easier when you take on a longer distance.
- Get up and show up!- Even when you don’t feel like it do it anyways! You will feel so much better for it.
- Be in competition with yourself and no one else- I think this is the most important one is don’t look at other people and think they are faster and they are doing better than you. Just focus on hitting your own Pb, which is much more rewarding. I also believe consistency is key and I always find the more times I go consistently say 3/4 times a week the better my pace and time gets. It becomes easier I promise!
- Make sure you rest- on the opposite of what I’ve just said if you are not really up for it make sure you rest! I find this hard to accept as it makes me feel guilty for not going. At the same time I realise that I lead a fairly busy life with my job, so I shouldn’t feel guilty for allowing myself some rest days when I’ve had a busy week!
- Run for charity! – This is a lovely point as I think it is good to do something for you but you are also helping others as well. I also find it more motivating if I’m doing an event and it is money for charity. The Great South Run me and Sophie raised money for Macmillan as recently my mum had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer also previously my Stepdad Trevor had been diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. So it was a meaningful charity to raise funds for.
In no way am I a professional runner, but I like to say I’ve come to learn some things since running from 2018. I would like to get myself back to where I was in 2018 and I know that will take time. I hope that any person reading this who wants to take up running will enjoy reading this post. My next post will be about my 2022 intentions not just involving fitness, but other things I would like to achieve in 2022.
I hope once again you’ve enjoyed this post from my scrapbook!
L. o t s o f L o v e
C h a r l o t t e
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Are you thinking of running? Are you just starting out and don’t know where to start? Hope this blogpost will give you some tips on how to get started 🙂 Please leave a comment below and tell me what you think 🙂 Thank you!
Charlotte's Scrapbook 