Will I be as Hard as Snails?

Those of you that know me relatively well, know I love my country walks, yet in December last year I registered for the Hard as Snails run for June 2017 – yes you read correctly………A RUN!

Why

In short, I need to lose weight and want to continue improving my physical and mental fitness. I enjoy, no scrap that, I love my food, so you will not find me eating a lettuce leaf or going out for a meal with friends and saying “not for me thanks I am on a diet”.

I need something that will require me to get off my backside, regardless of the weather, and burn off some fat.

My underlying nature is to be up and about doing things but the nature of my work is desk based but I also love being creative on my new iMac. This also means a lot of sitting.

I have completed a marathon hike a few years ago and whilst I would love to give that another go, I genuinely don’t think I have the time for training, so may be time for something different.

When searching for events, it was the name of this one that grabbed my attention first “Hard as Snails” – I thought – yep that will be me, a snail. I think mine will be more of a long slow jog, given it is off-road and hilly.

But 10k?

I could have gone for the 5k but no, I decided June is plenty of time for training and went for the full 10k. Admittedly I was also egged on a bit by my brother, though as a seasoned triathlete, having completed his first Ironman in Tenby last year and being somewhat younger than me, after I pressed “submit” to register, I began to think it may have been a bit of a reckless decision. I have completed the 5k City Run before but this quite a few years ago.

Now, having had time to reflect on this over Christmas holidays, I realise that actually I am at a very good start point. It will be demanding enough that I should be able shed a bit of the excess weight but not so demanding that it takes over my life completely (time will tell).

I spent last year getting my general level fitness back to where it should be (the reasons why it all went a bit pear shaped will be for another blog).

Working away from home during the week and staying just over 2 miles from the work place meant I had no excuses, I walked back at least two times a week. With the Walkmeter app, I could see (and hear) my average pace, so started to aim to improve on this, getting faster and more energised with each walk. It started to feel like I could break out into a jog, so I did, every so often.

I am now three weeks into my training plan and am loving it.

Weeks one and two

Easy does it