I started running to lose weight.
I carried on running in my still overweight body to challenge myself at difference distances, to prove that I was an actual runner
10Ks
Half marathons
and then full marathons…when would it stop?
Oh an unexpected pregnancy…that would do the job!!!
So I took an 8 month gap from running, but missed it so much I was back after just 7 weeks of giving birth building up my fitness and looking for new challenges and now I had a new reason to run…to escape!!!
To be someone other than just a mum, someone who could leave the house without another person attached to me, to have goals that didn’t involve the progress of my little person…as lovely as she is.
The reasons I run now are plentiful, I run to maintain my weight, I run to build strength and fitness, I run to de-stress, and to energise, I run to get places, like literally I run to see the world, I run to socialise, I run to be alone…so you see there is never just one reason to run….well not for me…well especially not for me.
I often joke that if it wasn’t for my blog I would have given up on running years ago, because the truth is…if I don’t run I don’t have much to talk about…well not much of interest anyway.
The last few months have been crazy, and I am going to be honest my running and my writing about actual running took a back seat.
I ran a couple of races in Geneva quite unprepared, I then headed out to Rhodes and put in some hilly miles at the Too Fat to Run Retreat…but aside from that my training runs in between have been pretty shoddy, a couple of miles here and there, two very enjoyable parkruns and a rather quick and painful 5k with my running club who think I might have dropped off the edge of a cliff….but thats about it.
I don’t have any big races in the diary, which is probably part of the problem.
I’m doing a few 10Ks over the summer…
British 10K on 10th July
Newham 10K…maybe??? (Well it is my local race)
Women’s Running 10K events in Glasgow and London (Click here to find out more, including a discount code)
All good stuff, but nothing thats really fuelling my training schedule.
But yesterday morning I woke up and decided that I was going to get up and run, I needed to run. I had childcare. The weather was great. I had no injuries or niggles…I had a fire in my belly.
At first I considered going to Richmond Park, somewhere I have never run before…on what I call a sightseeing run (which is what my 5 weeks to 5k ladies had scheduled for the weekend) but then I realised it almost didn’t matter where I ran…I didn’t need a whole heap of inspiration, I just wanted to run and see where my legs took me.
I headed out about 8.30am and arrived home just before noon…I plodded around the canals of East London, through the Olympic Park and along to Hackney Marshes where I stopped for a breather and some water, I didn’t care about my speed, I almost didn’t even care about the distance I just wanted to be out without any rules enjoying the thing I love most.
In the end I covered 8 miles…8 miles exactly which formed a figure of 8 in fact which was a little spooky. There was some walking, and some stopping to shoot some videos for some of the coaching groups I am leading at the moment…and I felt amazing.
That feeling stayed with me for the rest of the day…as I headed off to IKEA to buy new curtains (oh the glamour).
I can still feel the rewards of yesterdays run today as I am in a great mood, and I have no achey muscles either which is very odd considering thats the furthest I’ve run in months.
I never thought I would become one of those runners who can’t function when they don’t run, but its clear this has happened. I am a runner. I have to run. Its part of who I am. Its what helps me function in the way I need to. It helps my body to be at its best, and my mind to connect everything up in the most effective way.
So why am I so sporadic with getting out there?
Because I took my eye off the ball and forgot for a moment what it is I am doing here. I won’t be doing that again, thats for sure.
My name is Julie Creffield, and I am a plus size athlete…and my chosen sport is long distance running….and on that note, I decided somewhere around Hackney Wick that I am ready to step things up and tackle a brand new challenge….my Big Fat Stupid Goal for 2017 is to take part in an ultra marathon (yep I said it) and I think I have found just the one.
June 2017 Race to the King, a 53.5-mile fully supported event across the stunning South Downs Way to the burial place of the first Kings of England in Winchester, where I went to University all those years ago with dreams of changing the world.
I have officially got my running mojo back again.
If you are not a member of our awesome online running club yet, why not think about joining before the start of July when our new theme for the month is revealed…and its a good un this month. Click here for more details
Just starting out? Next week we start another cohort of our ground breaking beginners programme 5 weeks to 5k. We have had 300 ladies go through this programme so far with great results. Sign up here