Story by Lucie

 

I’ve always tried to start running throughout my life, but every time I did, I hated it and gave up.

 

Back in 2022 I decided to try again. It wasn’t for the best reasons as I wanted to lose weight for my wedding; but it gave me enough motivation to try and build a habit.

 

My first ‘run’ was hard. I was too embarrassed to hit the pavements, so I ran round and round my garden for about 1.5km. My chest was burning, and hating every second, I wondered why on earth people enjoyed this form of torture.

 

For the next run, I decided to be braver and ran in public. I managed 3km of running and walking and again, hated every moment. But I was determined to make it feel easier.

 

For the next 6 months I introduced a bit of consistency and slowly made it up to 5km. My progress was painfully slow and I never enjoyed any of my runs. Truth be told, I didn’t know how to run, how to pace myself, or how to run slow. And I still hated it.

 

I lost the weight, and the wedding and honeymoon passed, which introduced the real test – could I keep it up? I think that moment was my real sink or swim.

 

But then I found parkrun.

 

At 9am, every Saturday morning, a ton of runners meet at various places all over the world and run a timed 5km run together. Pros, beginners, children, over 80s, dogs – you name it. Everyone is welcome and it’s the most encouraging environment.

 

This was my game changer.

 

I was terrified for my first as I went on my own, so embarrassed about everything about myself. What if I had a weird run? What if my face was redder than anyone else’s? What if I was sick? I ran/walked the whole way round and finished in around 31 minutes. When the results were emailed through, all I could think about was trying to get that time under 30.

 

I built consistency into my week around parkrun and started to research actual stuff about running, and asked advice from fellow park runners that I met. I also made an Instagram account to hold myself accountable which helped beyond belief, and found the best community of runners who have been so supportive and inspiring ft. the best training tips.

 

The initial embarrassment melted away after a few weekends and it was only me vs. me.
I gradually started to get quicker, and the biggest two reasons? I had a purpose to run, and I also learnt how to run slow. And believe it or not, I started to enjoy running too.

 

Soon followed first races, increased distances, and an evolution of goals which only kept stretching. My day to day mental and physical health improved, and losing weight was the last motivation on my list.

 

Two years on from that first run, I think I’d be a little lost without running in my life. It’s introduced me to new people, new interests, and a genuine goal that benefitted ME every single day. It’s given me confidence in wider sport, and I ticked off the lifelong dream of joining a football team just before my 30th birthday. It’s saved me in dark times and been a constant in my life that only I can control.

 

And there you have it – I bloody love running. And I’m thankful that I found it.