Regular readers of my blog know that as much as I enjoy running, I tend to moan and complain about it way too often which is evident by a couple of ‘pity me’ posts. But having run x4 half marathons, x2 10kms and one 5km race since January, I must admit, I’ve fallen in love with my running again.

Here’s why:

• There’s no pressure. With KK & DSM focusing on their Two Oceans & Comrades training this year, all the attention and focus has shifted to their running schedules. Their half marathons have turned into full marathons which they run in 4 hours or less. So for a change, I wait for them to finish a race, compared to them waiting for me to come in. It allows me to stroll back to the car after my race, get cleaned up & relax in the sun without feeling like everyone is sitting around waiting for me to finish.
• I haven’t stopped. I try run often, even if it’s a 5km run on the treadmill at gym. I make sure that I make the time to run.
• I run far. I’ve pushed myself this year to run as many half marathons as I can. The first one I ran was Johnson Crane which hurt like hell. I even popped two myprodols after the race because my body ached so badly and I wobbled around for the next two days. But two weeks later, I ran another half. I’ve kept at it. The wobbling has stopped.
• I’ve stopped over-analysing what time I finish a race. I realised that this was making me miserable. The fact that I run races surrounded by walkers and those considered “slow” is not what matters. We all cross that finish line and we all get a medal for the same distance. If I have a good day and do well, great. But sometimes it’s okay if I feel like doing a slow run too. I remind myself of this fact often.

• I celebrate small victories. I managed to run a 10km race in 74 minutes. I was over the moon! I also managed to run the dreaded Deloitte half marathon in under 3 hours. Yay! And more recently, I ran Sarens half in 2:54. Go me!

It’s only a few more months until KK takes on Comrades and I’m sure a lot more races ahead. I’m looking forward to them and might even consider running through Winter. OMG! What am I saying? Let me not run ahead of myself! *you see what I did there* 🙂