I know not everyone has aspirations to be a runner, but I always, always have. I was pretty good at a few sports growing up and fair to middling at the rest. I gave everything a go and joined every sports team there was on offer at school. But I was never a runner. Cross country days hurt me, deep down in my young soul. God I hated them.
So I cannot really explain what happened last December, 2 days before Christmas, when I put on some sneakers and decided to run. It really was as simple as that.
I’ve written about it before (here) so I won’t elaborate too much, but over the past 10 months I’ve increased my distance, improved my pace and settled into running in a way I had never imagined I would. I have gone from struggling to run 1km to where I’m at now, which is comfortably running 5km in under 30 minutes.
I’m proud of that. It’s no Olympic time, but it’s an excellent Melissa time.
How I learned how to run 5km
So December 2014. No running. 23rd December 2014, I power walked 4km and ran 1km at the end.
This was honestly the hardest kilometre I’ve ever completed in my life. And I barely made it to be honest. I wasn’t prepared for how uncomfortable, wobbly, jiggly and out of breath I would feel. I was self-conscious and full of negative self-talk.
But I was secretly pretty stoked I did it.
I did this walk/run combo 3 0r 4 more times. Then I increased the running distance to 1.5 km and followed the same pattern. Repeating the increased increment 3 or 4 times before adding another half km onto the running distance, always working within the 5km parameter – I think this was a big mental milestone for me!
I took it slowly and after a couple of months, I made it to 5km.
I COULD RUN 5 FREAKING KILOMETRES!!!! Huge milestone for me. To be honest, I haven’t progressed much further distance wise since. I’ve hit 7km a couple of times when I was pushing hard, but I really love the short sharp burst that a good 5km gives me.
But. Next month, on the 15th of November, I’m running the Skechers Women’s 6k in Auckland. My friend Penny from Little Housewife and I had been discussing doing a run or race together and there were heaps of reasons why we decided to choose the Skechers event;
6k is a great distance which suits all levels. Trust me, this is a totally achievable distance for either walkers or runners – and you can do either, it doesn’t matter!- The course is flat. Flat as a pancake. Along the waterfront in Auckland in lush, pre-summer November, perfectly scheduled for all of our ‘get fit for summer’ resolutions!
- Everyone gets a goody bag!
- There are amazing prizes to be won on the day such as a trip to Hawaii for the best dressed trio and a brand new Mazda!
So, what do you think? Ready to give it a go with us? Online registrations close 13 November and Penny assures me this is such a fun event – she did it last year!
Plus, Skechers have an amazing prize pack to give away to one lucky reader! Valued at over $250 it includes a pair of Skechers GOwalk 3 shoes, a Skechers Performance towel, sports-bag and drink bottle, a range of Sculpt product and a shaker, and tickets for you and a friend to attend Skechers 6k – the perfect pack to provide you with everything you need to get up and on your feet!
There are three ways to enter:
- Comment below and tell me who you would invite to the event
- Head over to The Best Nest on Facebook and follow the instructions on the competition image here
- Enter via this image on Instagram
Competition closes 30/10/15 @ 5pm.
Follow
