The Running Bug

9th November, 2012


I accidentally caught the running bug in February 2012.

I had just signed up for the Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation, determined to lose that baby weight for good. My kids were 2 and 6 months at the time and I could run for about 30 seconds at a time.

3 months later, I ran a half marathon.

My name is Vanessa and this is my new blog!

I have never been much of a runner. I went through phases where I would run in order to lose weight, but I never really enjoyed it or got into it. So it was with a sense of obligation that I pulled on the runners earlier this year and decided it was time to give it another go.

I started out with the C25K (couch to 5km) app. I loved that it started out very easy and included lots of walking. I started to build up my confidence and fitness and after about 3 weeks my husband Dean decided we should go on a run together. He really pushed me and kept me going and together, we ran 5km. The distance was definitely a mental barrier, rather than a physical one. So I ditched the app and had a new benchmark for myself.

I stuck with 5km for a few weeks – getting used to that distance and eventually working on bettering my time. I also started to get the hang of my pace and becoming more aware of it.

It was on an afternoon run one cloudy day by the water, when something clicked. I realised I was actually enjoying the run. I was confused! I never thought I would actually like running! I got home that day completely pumped and motivated – and I have loved every run since.

Perhaps it’s the fresh air and the cool sea breeze. Perhaps it’s the freedom of being childless for even just 30 minutes. Perhaps it’s knowing that every step or every run is making me fitter, stronger and healthier. I don’t know why I love running, but I do!

Over the next 2 months, I kept up my running. I was on maternity leave from work, so would run around Dean’s work schedule. I got into a great habit of getting up at 5am, before the kids, and starting my day with a refreshing and invigorating run. Even when the baby would have me up 2-3 times a night for a feed or cuddle, I would get up early, sometimes even pumping milk before I went, because I just loved the feeling of that run!

Every time I pushed to the next milestone – 7km, 10km, 12km, 15km – it was with Dean. We would arrange a babysitter, set a goal, and encourage each other along the way. Again, each barrier was a mental one to break through.

I went back to work and regretfully had to stop my morning runs, as I work from 5-9am. Running became a lot harder to schedule with me leaving the house at 4:30am and Dean not getting home until 6:30pm or so. But it was just a hurdle we had to work around and I still aimed for, and most of the time achieved, 2-3 runs a week.

We reached the final week of our 12 week challenge. My original goal had been to run 10km in the final week – but I’d achieved that in week 6! I really wanted to push myself, so Dean and I decided to do an 18km run along the waterfront at Sandgate. We set out and settled into our pace, feeling great. At 10km we had a moment. We had come so far in our health and fitness journeys, both losing over 10kg. We were the fittest, healthiest, lightest and happiest we’d ever been. This run was the culmination of a truly life-changing 12 weeks and we really wanted to make it count. “Why not?” we said. “Let’s do a half marathon!”

So we ran and ran until the sun went down. When we reached 21.1km, we lay out on the grass in the cool night air and couldn’t believe what we had achieved.

Well, that running bug is persistent! We went on to run two more half marathons in the next two months. I ran my PB at the Jetty to Jetty of 1:54:20.

We are a busy little family and I have lately been finding it harder and harder to get out for runs. We juggle our kids and work between us and it makes for long days. So we recently made a decision to get a pram/buggy that would give us the ability to run with the kids.

And that is where this journey begins! I’m so excited about setting new goals and starting back at the beginning. I know I’ll have to build up my distances again as I adjust to running with a pram (and 25kg+ of children!) I know it’ll still sometimes be a juggle, even though I now have the freedom to run in the afternoons.

I don’t know where this new phase will end up, but I’m so excited to move to a new level in my running and that best of all, we can now do it as a family! Come along for the ride!