68.8 km later

This time last month I did my first “distance” run in years (and I mean actual years).

That day I completed the 8.4 km Ports of Auckland Round the Bays course* and I managed to run 3.8km before I had to walk/run the rest of the way.  It was hot, I felt heavy and quite frankly it was as non fun and something that is not fun at all gets.

However, that run seems to have been the catalyst that finally got me outside of the gym and back onto the road regularly.

You see, although I’ve tried a few times to get back into running, I’ve never been able to stick at it for more than a week or two. I mean lets be honest – running (especially when you first start) is pretty shit, but this time I was determined that I wasn’t going to let my total lack of running ability get the better of me.

For this past month I’ve continually reminded myself that if I could just grit my teeth and get through this first month that the next month would be easier.

So I’ve run (sometimes begrudgingly) three times per week each and every week since then. Some days it rained (actually quite a few days) and some days were blistering hot although because I live in Auckland there were also quite a few days where it started out blistering hot and then the heavens opened! There were days when I thought I could run forever and other days where I’d want to give up after about 200m’s BUT I stuck to the plan and I ran ..

Saturday was the anniversary of that first run and I managed to run a hilly 6k without stopping (1.2k longer than that very first run) and “just for fun” I continued to walk/run another 2.5k (hilly) kilometres just to see how much I’d progressed in a month. I know I can’t compare the two runs because of the differing terrain but I did manage to run for longer without stopping and I completed 8.5k quicker than the 8.33k my Garmin measured the Round the Bay course to be.

It’s official! I’m now one month and 68.8k’s closer to becoming an “actual runner” … 😉

Till next time

*The Ports of Auckland Round the Bays is a running event that has been held in March each year since 1972. The 8.4 km run follows the contours of Auckland’s Waitemata harbour beginning in the city on Quay Street by Vector Arena and finishing on the St Heliers Bay waterfront.