Run away! Run away!

I used to run. I used to run marathons (alright, more like I ran 1.8 marathons). Now I much prefer the couch. There are a number of contributing factors, none of which are really good excuses. They are:

  1. We moved from sunny California where the weather was warm and dry for most of the year, and we had a fantastic network of paved trails, and off-road paths on our door step.

  2. I got a job, full time. It is tiring and takes up a big chunk of one’s day. (to clarify, I wasn’t sat around being lazy prior – I was writing a PhD, which frankly was worse than a job but had more flexible hours)

  3. I threw out my back a year and a half ago, and that meant I couldn’t run.

  4. I got pregnant, and since I wasn’t running before that, it didn’t seem the right time to start again.

See, all very valid and legitimate excuses for not putting on my shoes and going for a run! Except, they really really aren’t. Case in point:

  1. We moved to Cardiff and live in a location where I have a 5k route through parks and around a lake literally RIGHT OUTSIDE MY FRONT DOOR! And the cooler weather means I don’t have to be up at the crack of dawn to avoid heat exhaustion, plus longer summer days gives me a larger window of time to run! Opposite is true in winter, but we’ll ignore that at the moment. As for rain, the truth of the matter is that I actually love running in the rain!

  2. Jobs are a fact of life, and plenty of people can manage their time well enough to squeeze in a run. Plus I have a short commute and lots of flexibility for when I arrive and leave the office. I could easily find time to run, and for a short period of time I did.

  3. I also threw my back out in California, and still managed to keep running. I was recovering from bunion surgery at the time, so was out injured anyways. By the time I was allowed to run again, my back was doing better. And the brief spell of running I’ve had in Cardiff, was in fact part of the recovery for the back as suggested by my physiotherapist!

  4. I am no longer pregnant. I do have a baby to contend with, but The Bearded One is fully supportive of me having a chance to get out and have baby free time (he also adores his daughter and wants time with her too).

So, I think this entry is basically me convincing myself that I need to stop talking about ‘getting back into running one day’ and just get out there and go for a run. I may update you on progress in the future, or I may stay on couch and pretend this entry never happened!


Entry 6 of #100DaysToOffload

6 September 2020