Run Iona, Run!

First up, lets get rid of this word ‘run’. It puts the fear into me & everyone else who’s starting up exercise. As soon as you use the word ‘run’, you think of tight chests, sore legs and gasping for air. You start doubting yourself before you’ve even put your shoes on & you consider giving up before you’ve even begun.

Running is for athletes. For the Paula Radcliffes and the Usain Bolts. And maybe one day you’ll join them, but for now, we’ll go for a jog.

It’s all about pace. That’s where I always went wrong when I tried to go for a jog over the years. I’d run as fast as I could, be totally puffed, give up & go home.

Slow & steady wins the race. But lets get the word ‘race’ out of our vocab too. I don’t care if the girl on the other side of the pavement is going waaayyy faster than you, I don’t care if that guy in way too much lycra just over-took you, I don’t care if your friends can do 5kms in 15 minutes. You are not competing with anyone. You are doing this for you. Take your time, take in your surroundings.

So how do you stop yourself from automatically going at full pelt and instead regulating your pace? Well, I started using a Couch to 5k app and it has been a godsend. Set out as 3 jogs a week for 10 weeks, it sees you go from couch potato zero to jogging hero! It starts off easy – 5 minute walking warm-up, 1 minute jogging, 1 minute walking (for 20 minutes in total) then 5 minute walk cool-down. Now, if you’re reading that & thinking ‘What the hell?! That’s not easy!’ Don’t worry, take your time. Do only half it, instead of jogging try just walking a bit faster instead – the main thing is to make it part of your routine. If you get outside 3 times a week and manage to do something, anything, you’re going to gradually build up your stamina, your muscles and your belief in yourself.

As the weeks go on, the harder it gets, gradually getting you to do less walking and more jogging within the 30 minutes. The great thing is, is if you hit a week and you’re like ‘Hell no, this is too hard’, you can repeat the last week until you feel comfortable to move on. But you will surprise yourself. First time I saw week 4 & that meant I was going to have to jog for 5 whole minutes, I thought there was no way. But the way the app helps you gradually build up to it meant, to my astonishment, that actually I could do it without collapsing into a heap of sweat & tears.

Another thing the app does is track your pace, distance and maps out where you’ve been. So if you’re looking for a bit of friendly competition with yourself, you can challenge me, myself & I to go further/jog faster than you did the couple of days before & of course, track your progress & feel awesome about how far you’ve come.

I never, ever thought I would say the following words. I love going for a jog.

Before, when I was stressed or angry or upset, my first reaction was to binge eat ALL the chocolate. Now? Now, I stick my running shoes on & get outside. And it works. There’s no after-junk-food-regret, my body doesn’t feel like shit, quite the opposite. Getting outside & taking in the scenery whilst I jog along clears my head, gets my endorphins pumping, my body glowing and everything feels a whole lot better afterwards.

Try it. Don’t give up. Keep at it. And you’ll feel a whole lot better too.

#run #jog #couchto5k