I oddly found myself reflecting on my running over the past two years this morning whilst stuck in traffic on the way to work, and kind of questioning why I started and why I am still clocking up the miles.

Why

The reason’s are many, but it all started back in 2015, after a trip to the doctors, where I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes – this I have to say did not come as a total shock as I was overweight and lived on a fairly unhealthy diet. During said visit to the doctors I was told that I would be on medication for the rest of my life and this condition was irreversible! So I came away from the doctors with no real plan on how to move forwards.

A few weeks later and with no real  planning I put on an old pair of trainers, baggy t-shirt and jogging bottoms and went for a run around the block – 10 minutes later I was back in doors huffing and puffing and somewhat deflated as I had lost count the amount of times I had to stop; but I got an amazing buzz afterwards. I carried on doing this for a few weeks and gradually I found that I could run around the block without stopping, that combined with a lot of people saying I was looking well, and I had lost some weight along the way too………………I was hooked.

Inspiration

During my journey of running to get fit I have met some amazing people along the way these people I call my friends they are from the running club I belong too Medway Runners, people I meet at the races I go to, and people whose blogs I read – they all have their own journeys and like me run for many different reasons – some are just starting out and some have been running for many years and can complete marathons day after day.

All these people give me the inspiration to get out there and run, and like wise I hope I can do the same for others by writing about my Journey.

Doubt

Why do I run, Why do I enter races and Why do I choose to run longer and further?……….

Because I doubt I can, I doubt myself, I doubt I can finish, I doubt I can run longer and I doubt I can run further. These things are not to be treated as negatives but more importantly positives, this is after all  a journey, my journey.

Every time I go out and run and every race I enter, none of these has ever been an easy outing, It is always hard work, to push myself and sometimes I even have to push myself to get out of the house, I doubt I will ever win any races, and that’s alright because running is just about getting out there and getting it done, and feeling better afterwards.

Achievement

When I look back to when I first started running and to where I am now, I can see how far I have come, this can be measured not only by the weight I have lost, the fitness I have gained, and the medals I have won but also the  friends I have made along the way.

Anyone who knows me will know that I am a fairly quiet person, who is happy not to be the centre of attention and it takes me a while to be comforable around others, but I now feel that this is not so much of a problem so you could say it is yet another achievement!

Life

We all have our own struggles in life, mine at the moment is my work, I am predominately office based and oversee a team of engineers and admin staff to which the business is undergoing change.

I know that when I have had a stressful day at work (which is most days), and get home then go out for a run, I do not think about the day, I only seem to think about the moment I am in, which is to keep running, don’t stop, watch out for that dog Poo and to count…

I have seem to got into the habit of counting when running, that is to say I count my footsteps from 1 to 8 on alternating feet? I do not know when this started but I guess it keeps me focused if a little bit weird.

My future plan is to run more races, I want to do a marathon distance before the year’s out, and next year I want to start looking at the bigger challenges like ultra’s, 100 miler and even some of the multi day events.

As for my diabetes, I believe I have managed to reverse it, as I am no longer on medication, and blood sugar levels are what they should be, I am due for another blood test in August, so as long as there are no high levels I should be o.k.

So I think I have gone on long enough for now, so will finish by saying get out there and run………