IT admin health: March 2016

OK so lets talk about....RUNNING!

Now let me be very very VERY clear........I have always hated running. Just the idea of it had me like blehhhhhhhhhh.

The first time I did 5k....it took me nearly 50 minutes! I am not really unfit but I have just hated it always...with a passion!

But over the last 10-12 months, I have really started to get into it, for various reasons.

My GF decided she wanted to start running, and I am a firm believer in supporting anyone who is actively making strides to become better in whatever they do. It is too easy to sit around and whine, loads of people do that, but I respect and admire people who actively get up and do something...anything..just start.
I went all in, I went and had a gate analysis (see how you run and get trainers accordingly) and started running with her and on my own. I have come to realise over time, that by investing and going all in,
I make it hard for myself to back out and I have to keep going.
I am a firm believer that you should do stuff that you will find a challenge
Because I found it a challenge....I kept at it
Because I was sooo crap at it, every-time I did it...I got better at it, and this made me want to do it again!
I found other people who liked running, and joined them. At work we have a run club (I am one of the slowest guys btw)
I have found that it is an incredible mental challenge, every bit of my mind wants me to stop...but pushing past that feels amazing.
For me the overall time isn't as important as the distance!

I have found ways to keep it exciting and interesting, and one of these ways was to take up Virtual Running! So what is Virtual Running I hear you ask...well let me explain:

A virtual run is one where you sign up on-line for a specified distance, and then run at your own pace. Some of these runs are on based on an honour system, where they do not ask for any proof, so it is up to you to be honest with y ourself, while others ask for you to post your step count (from your fitness tracker), or screen shot your runkeeper app, or a picture of your treadmill time etc. You are responsible for submitting your time\distance.

They arent bothered if you run the whole distance, or if you split it up into multiple smaller runs, no one cares about your time. The key is you get better, and you get some seriously cool bling! Some of the money goes to charity too. To me that is multiple wins right there!

I mean I am a nerd and you can get cool medals, I ran a 10k and got a Romulan Warbird medal! I ran another 10k and got a Martin Luther King medal!. You can find races that you think are for a good cause and now you have something to aim for and work towards.

I ran my first outdoor tarmac 10k for charity and ran a time of 1:04 and I got a cool medal for that too!

I have found that running on a treadmill isn't for me, I prefer running outside. Everybody is different, I have also found that I need to listen to music with a high beats per minute, it zones you out and your mind quietens down and any thought of stopping vanishes. I have also found an excuse to wear funky stuff while I run...I mean look at those leggings! Orange is my fav colour btw! hahah

My goal at the moment is to have more bling than Mr T! hahah and lets just say I am off to a good start!