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Jon’s running challenge
A few years ago I ran every day in January. (It was a fundraising challenge for Suffolk Mind, of course – I wouldn’t do such a silly thing for fun!) I did it a couple of years running, actually. I don’t enjoy running, so I didn’t continue to run afterwards. Well, I did a park run for a few weeks, but because it was the only exercise I was doing, my times were getting longer, rather than shorter, so I became demotivated and stopped.
More recently, again as I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been running about a mile and a half every Saturday with a friend.
To set myself s little challenge, and make it more interesting, I’ve signed up to run our Mental Elf festive run. This is a 3k fun run at Bury St Edmunds Rugby Club on Saturday 6 December, with participants dressed up as something Christmassy.
I love Christmas, so I was happy to sign up to this.
But as I was thinking about my giving page (where you can sponsor me…although please don’t! Read on for why…) I was wondering how to encourage people to donate.
It’s tricky, as I’ve done various things before, so I’m often asking friends and family to support me walking on fire, or skydiving.
Then a daft idea came to me. I could promise that, if I reach a certain stretching target, like £2,000, I will sign up to run a half marathon next year as well.
The furthest I’ve ever run before is those 5k park runs. And I didn’t enjoy that particularly either.
So the thought of a half marathon doesn’t really fill me with the joys of Christmas morning.
Anyway, before I could talk myself out of it, I told some of the team at Suffolk Mind and, of course, they thought it was a great idea and that was that.
Interestingly, there’s a bit of me that’s looking forward to the challenge. I feel like there is a long enough time between now and next Autumn for me to get fitter. I already feel I’m improving my fitness, and it wouldn’t take a huge effort to get myself to the point where a half marathon isn’t out of the question.
It feels achievable – I feel in control of it.
And it’s certainly stretching, but it doesn’t feel overwhelming…at least, not yet.
My friend will help me, and watching the donations come into my sponsorship page is motivating as well, I suppose – especially as a lot of them are coming from people who wouldn’t usually give us money. I feel proud of myself already…and I haven’t done anything yet.
Of course, this is all good for my mental health. Feeling valued, feeling like I’m achieving something or improving. Getting to spend time with my friend and feeling supported by him. Not to mention the physical benefits, of course.
Having avoided exercise for so many years, especially running, it’s been interesting to notice how positively I’m feeling about it. Maybe all that stuff about endorphins, endogenous cannabinoids (these are the things that cause ‘runner’s high’ apparently) and all that is true.
Either way, if you’d like to join me running around Bury Rugby Club in a funny hat, you’d be very welcome indeed. And if not, please don’t sponsor me, as it would be a great shame if I reached my target and had to sign up to run a half marathon next year. No-one wants that.
