Me? In a fun run??

You'd better believe it! Next weekend I am participating in my first ever fun run! I started running a year ago and I sucked (still do) but I kept at it. Last year I was extremely unfit, overweight and suffering from type 2 diabetes. I had recently joined a gym and was slowly working my way back to life.

And I was doing ok. Slowly but surely I did ok. Running was hard and at first I couldn't do more than a single minute before having to stop. I have built up on that but I find it very hard as I still have no stamina. Even now, after a whole year (acutally less than but I'll explain) I can still only run for 15 minutes straight before having to stop. Yes, I'm running 15 times more than I was this time last year but most people I know who started running when I did have done their first 10k-er by now. I would just DIE!

In October last year I had a terrible case of shin splints and compartment syndrome which almost saw me in hospital having my legs sawed open to relive the pressure. I had run too much in one week with not enough rest and it was enough to see me out of running for 4 whole months. So really, I started running last year but I have only been running for 8 months, and only a trickle here and there.

Then 9 weeks ago I started a running programme designed by my personal trainer. There are ten of us doing the 10 week programe and we each have our own personal running plan drawn up. Everyone else who is in this has been running for ages, is fit, fast and experienced. They are all pushing out 8k runs a few times a week, Good on them I say!

But, little ol me is the oldest and slowest of the bunch but I am so happy with how I have done. We started from scratch at the start of the programe with me only running 20 seconds then walking for a mintute, run 20sec walk for a minute until 20 minutes had passed. We built this up each weak so, the next time I would run 30 seconds walk a minute, then run 45 sec, walk 1 min...then the walking part got shorter and shorter until yesterday when I did a full lap of our circuit in 15 minutes non stop. Huge, and I mean huge achievement for me. It means I am getting better and stronger and more effecient so I should be able to build on that further and keep getting better.

So, next week is my first fun run! It's a 4ker and I won't be able to do it non stop but I will be able to walk/run it and finish it. I'm not nervous because I have done this track before. I just want to beat my best time. I really am looking forward to it!

Wish me luck!!