By Chiedza Rwodzi
I bet you think this is going to be one of those blog posts where I tell you I absolutely fell in love with running. Nope not at all. That is not the case. As someone who used to play sport in high school I never quite enjoyed running. I mean I didn’t mind the sprints on the basketball court during a game but that was all the running I was keen on.
Fast forward to my adult years and it only got worse. While I truly believe health is wealth I never really was keen to get into running seriously. I found it a little intimidating especially seeing all these runners post their times and distances on social media. It just felt like I was doomed to fail so I stuck to my strength training and clean eating.
It was not until lockdown and boredom that I started to get curious about running. So I put on my shoes and gave it a try. On my first day I only managed to run 500 metres yes you read right. I thought I was going to pass out, I was dizzy and I wanted to vomit and my chest was burning, good Lord but why? Was I really that unfit?
It both frustrated & worried me. I thought I was fit? maybe I was but clearly my endurance was low and that really bothered me.
So I decided to run again the next day and no it wasn’t a perfect run, I still had the burn in my chest but I was determined. I managed to run 1km yay! It was such a big win for me because I did it!
It slowly became a habit and each day I would increase my distance at my own pace. I chose to make it my own personal running journey. I would celebrate little milestones and reward myself if I hit a target for example when I managed to run 3kms I rewarded myself with a massage. When I finally managed to run 5kms I also rewarded myself.
It’s such a wonderful feeling when you start to achieve something you thought you could never do. Yes there are health benefits that come with running such as glowing skin, better mood, better health, increased fitness levels, weight loss etc but the greatest gift for me was building that endurance and surprising myself with a fitter version of myself. Yes it hurts when your legs are burning and you just want to stop but that’s the beauty that comes with the pain. It hurts so good!
So start with here, start with now. Start with walking, start with panting but just start. As my friend always tells me “this is not the olympics” so there’s no pressure to be the fastest or the greatest but there is need for you to play your part when it comes to your fitness, after all your body is the temple that your spirit resides in, so honour it with the love that it deserves.