sarahwilliamsandco

So I said I’d update you about how my fitness journey is going and we’re almost a month in so I thought now would be a perfect time. Especially if your own motivation is starting to slip. If you need a sign to keep going, it’s this. This post. Go do what you need to do.

Week 4, Run 1. A Tuesday evening. The dreariest of days. Dark clouds and persistent rain that seeps into your very soul. Danny picks me up from work, we’re already in our workout clothes (a great little cheat tip if you think when you get home you’ll just get into bed). We debate the entire way home about the run. We’re both on both sides. No we’ve gotta do it, we’re doing really well. If we stop we’ll lose momentum. We’d have to do two in two days later. Wouldn’t be able to recover. Oh but this rain is horrendous. Christ, those puddles are covering the entire road! Watch that pedestrian! You’re gonna soak someone. Well we could do some yoga instead. Oh look the rain has gone way lighter now, let’s just see what Formby is like. Fuck it, let’s just go.

And we did. We just put our trainers on, started our Nike running apps and got outside. The warm-up walk was, I’m not gonna lie, a bit hideous. Very cold and just huge raindrops dripping down into your eyes. But then all of a sudden we’d reached the park, our favoured location for running and we were told to start our first running interval. And what happened after was magic.

We don’t tend to run next to each other because my pace is much slower so we’ve just been bringing our own headphones and pressing play at the same time. Since the rain was so heavy we decided to leave my AirPods at home, worried about water damage. (Are they waterproof, anyone?) The result of this is that I just had to run until Danny found me and told me to stop.

It was kind of amazing and kind of terrifying. It felt like you would be running for all of existence yet you could be cut off at any second. My conclusion? It was fucking freeing. I just focused on putting one foot in front of the other. I drank any drops that reached my mouth, actually perfect for hydration. And I quietly muttered words of encouragement to myself. Sounds corny but it really worked for me. I got to appreciate the sound of the rain, the uber greenness of the trees, the intoxicating fresh air. I smiled numerous times on this run, something I didn’t think humanly possible for me. The high fives from Danny each time our paths crossed really helped too!

By the end of the run I’d ran the furthest yet and achieved my quickest pace per kilometre. I got straight home to more water in the form of a massive gulped drink and a hot shower! Isn’t water incredible?

I had an hour or so of sneezes but all evening we said how happy we were that we’d gone and I think that’s all we need to keep pushing ourselves. Each run we’re getting slightly stronger and building a little more stamina. We’re in it for the long haul. If you are too then I hope that story could be a little push for you somehow.

The meal planning has been going okay but could definitely improve. The yoga is virtual nonexistent right now so that’s something I need to work on, for sure. But the running is our success story this month. Let’s see if I can keep it up for another five weeks!

Side note: Laura’s (your lovely Couch to 5k trainer) playlists are giving me life, don’t get my wrong. But I cannot wait til I can run to my own music!

See you in the next update, make good choices til then!

You Get What You Give – New Radicals