Personal Challenge

Since I got back from my skiing holiday with my family a few weeks ago, I decided to set myself a challenge of running three times a week. Last summer I was running pretty regularly and was able to run quite far but I let it slip a bit over the winter as I've been concentrating a bit more on toning than cardio.

My first run after my holiday was really hard - I felt like I was running through quicksand. I've heard that you can lose your fitness after three days, so having not been to the gym in 1 and a half weeks I was really struggling. I kept at it anyway and in the first week I did three 3.5 mile runs. The next week running suddenly felt so much easier. I found that I could keep running for much longer and was starting to enjoy it again. I believe the more you do something, the better at it you become and then the more you enjoy it so you continue to do it.

Yesterday I ran 6 miles (I know it doesn't sound like much especially to any amazing people who ran the marathon last weekend!!) and I felt great after. This morning I have just been for a run with my little sister who is a really good cross-country runner. I definitely think running with someone who is a little faster/better than you really helps to push you out of your comfort zone and improve - it really helped me anyway! At the moment I'm running 9 minute miles which is a whole minute quicker than when I started a couple of weeks ago. I'm also gradually building up my distance - this week I'm running between 5.5 and 6 miles and next week I will run between 6.5 and 7.

I really think setting yourself simple challenges like this can help to improve any aspect of your life, whether it's exercise related like this one, or eating 100% healthily during the week, or challenging yourself to read more instead of watching TV - the feeling of succeeding at your challenge and seeing improvements in yourself is one of the best feelings out there.

So, set yourself a little challenge and enjoy it! x