Running just got social

I was meant to have achieved one of my goals this weekend, to run The 5k Chocolate Run. To tell the truth I’m still struggling to do more than 30 minutes of walk to run (3.5 min:1.5 min) due to my diastasis and discomfort  around my scar but I was determined to go ahead. However it wasn’t meant to be, the race got delayed by 3 hours and my children were not going to hang around for 3 hours whilst I completed the run. Not to be deterred I decided to do my own first 5 k run closer to home.

Who would have thought going on this run would have made such an impact. Not only did I complete the 5k (all be it slowly (31 minutes)) but along the way I bumped into a friend. Both of us have children of the same age and both of us were runners pre baby. We are also fighting that uphill battle to get out and exercise and return to running. We stopped, chatted and congratulated each other on getting out and both agreed how precious this 30 minutes of running was. Quiet time away from the kids, doing something just for ourselves. My friend then asked me if I would set up a little running group for ladies, an opportunity to run, catch up with a few friendly faces and have an uninterrupted chat (depending on how breathless we get)!

I’ve toyed with the idea for a long time now but never felt I had the confidence to do such a thing. More importantly I have always felt that I had to be super fit to lead a running group. However my friend made a great point and that was that most of the girls that would join us would be new mums, women with hardly any time on their hands, of a similar fitness level and women who just wanted to do a little something on their own away from the hustle and bustle of their normal lives. So I’ve decided to go ahead and set something up. Who knows what it may bring but what I do know is that running with others is a great way to stay motivated and as a mum a great way to steal some adult, quiet time and achieve a little something for yourself,  goal met I think you will agree!