I made it!

I've never seen running as an enjoyable activity. Maybe it is because in my junior school days and even through high school, running was used as a form of punishment in all the sports I participated in.

Last year my sister signed up to do the 5km Gun Run (read that post here) and I reluctantly decided to join her. During that run I realised just how unfit and just plain unhealthy I had become. It was a serious shock for me and after that, I promised myself that I would start being more active. So this post is kind of a year in review post.

After the Gun Run, JP and I started doing parkruns, I did quite a few but battled with an old knee injury. Running is a really painful activity for me so I decided to "park" the running and work on strengthening my supporting muscles in hopes that it would help me. Overall, my knee really started to improve a lot and overall, my fitness levels improved. I focused on squats, deadlifts, and mixed in other activities.  Each time I exercise, I log it using my Fitbit and write down the workout that I did - over the course of the year I have really created some great workouts for myself and it's nice to page back and look at how I've improved.

But this year has really been an up and down battle for me between injuries and getting sick. It's really just derailed the progress that I thought I would have made by the time the next Gun Run came around. I signed myself up for the 10km run this year, before I tore the tendons in my ankle...then just as I could start exercising again we started working on renovations in our home and then  I was hit with migraine after migraine, stomach bug and a cold - all the space of 3 months. Then the Gun Run day was here.

I was in a very bad mood yesterday morning when JP and I headed to the Waterfront and I know it is because I was disappointed that I couldn't go into this with the knowledge that I could get through it "comfortably". When the gun went off at the start of the race I felt a knot in my stomach - 10 kilometers is a really long way to go.

The race was VERY long. Mentally I went through serious highs and lows. At the start of the run I decided I would take the race slow and steady and I felt really good for the first 5km. Having not done a 10km road run before, the rest of the race was a struggle. The last 3km's in particular were rough. My "faulty" left knee suddenly decided it had had enough and the pain was awful, so much so that I felt nauseous from it. I bit down and slowly made my way across that finish line. As I crossed that line I thought, "thank god it is over". I took my medal from the friendly lady, got some coke and headed to find a spot to see to my knee.  I sat on the grass icing my knee and I felt quite sorry for myself. I didn't really realise what I had done - I made it!

Despite being "running unfit" and not a natural runner, I managed to achieve what I wanted to do. I wasn't aiming for a crazy fast time. I just wanted to be able to complete a 10km run...and I did it. So although I'm sitting with my knee strapped up and in quite a bit of pain, I am glad that I achieved something I wanted to do... And that feeling is intoxicating!

Big Hugs,
Charlene XXX