Couch to 10kms

This morning I went for a 10km run, which I love doing a few times a week to de-stress and stay in shape. If you had met me 6 months ago you would have known that I hated running and hadn’t run a kilometre in my life. Any time I tried to run I felt horribly ill, out of breath and had to stop within 5 minutes.

I was at a point where I felt that I needed to get fitter for my overall wellbeing, but I knew I would continue sitting on the couch if I didn’t set myself a firm goal. So I decided to aim high – I was going to enter into a 10km fun run. With only 6 weeks before the event, I purchased my $90 ticket (the price itself was enough to motivate me), strapped on my new running shoes and ran my first kilometre.

At first I thought I was crazy – I would get half way though a run and have to walk the rest because I was so out of breath!  I started to realise this was a mental challenge as much as it was physical. Even when the going got tough I didn’t let myself give up, I knew persistence would be the key to success. Similarly to investing, running 10kms wasn’t going to happen over night, it took patience and commitment (and a whole lot of blisters!), but I knew the payoff would be worth it in the end.

Bit by bit, running got easier and I found I could go further every week. Eventually, I started really enjoying my runs and they became my favourite part of the day! As the race approached, I knew that running 10kms would still be a challenge but I felt that I had trained hard in the weeks leading up and was ready to take on anything.

After so many weeks of preparation, training and perseverance, the day finally came. I was so exited and nervous at the starting line and felt so proud that I had even made it that far.

The feeling that I got when I crossed the finish line was truly worth all of the pain. With adrenaline pumping through my veins and my family cheering me as I crossed the finishing banner, I felt like I was on top of the world.

Reflecting on my achievement, being determined and putting in the hard yards was how I reached this enormous goal. Like anything in life – practise makes perfect! If you want to achieve something, you need to put the time and effort in to see results.

Now I’ve set my sights on a new goal – this time I’m going to run 15kms! I can’t wait to see how far I can run and what more I can achieve when I set my mind to it.