My Running Journey: Overcoming Setbacks and Achieving New Goals
My Running Journey & How It All Began: The Motivation to Start Running
My running journey started after I wrapped up playing football. Running seemed like the perfect way to stay fit and shed some weight, especially as I’ve always felt heavier than ideal. Without ever reaching an unhealthy weight, I would still hit moments where I’d think it was time to make a change—this was around 2012. But up until 2017, it was more of a cycle of starting and stopping.
Things shifted in 2017 when I set a challenge for myself: run 1,017 kilometers that year. I hit that target, but the process felt like a grind. Running just to hit a number, with no milestones like breaking personal bests (PBs), made it less enjoyable. It wasn’t until I began going to Parkrun UK in 2019 that I started thinking more about improving my times and becoming competitive. My friend’s faster Parkrun times sparked that competitive edge in me, and I spent the next six months training, chasing faster times.
Then COVID hit, and suddenly, running became more about mental health than competition. With Parkruns and races off the table, running helped me stay grounded during a difficult period of redundancies and furloughs. But running was closely tied to how I was feeling mentally—on good days, I’d run consistently. On bad days, it was much harder to motivate myself.
Now, running has become more than just a fitness tool. It gives me a sense of purpose, and it’s exciting to see where it will take me next. I hope this blog will serve as both a personal record and a resource for others looking to use running to create positive change.
Breakthrough Moments in My Running Journey: Early Struggles with Consistency
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that consistency is the key to progress. Every time I hit a new personal best, it was after a stretch of consistent training. The frustrating part is that it didn’t even need to be long—just a few weeks could make a huge difference. But achieving that consistency was always tough.
In the early days, I struggled to love running. The love came later, once it became a habit and felt easier. My toughest period was during the 2017 challenge to run 1,017 km. There were no smaller milestones along the way, no goals of hitting personal bests or improving my form, just a large number looming over me. Add to that the mental health struggles I was dealing with, and finding consistency was nearly impossible. Every time I stopped, coming back to running felt harder.
My First Parkrun: A Turning Point
I’ll always remember my first Parkrun in January 2017 at Walthamstow. A friend had mentioned it years earlier, and as I was working through my 1,017 km challenge, I thought it would be a good way to log another 5K. It was freezing, but I managed a respectable time despite having very little running experience up to that point. Parkrun felt easier than running alone, and the sense of community motivated me to keep going. After that, I got a friend to join me, and he still runs with me to this day.
As of September 2024, I’m on my way to completing 193 Parkruns, and my friend is close behind with 155. It became a ritual, something I looked forward to each Saturday morning. That feeling of accomplishment and the motivation from running with others has kept me going for years.
Breakthroughs and Milestones: Consistency Pays Off
That first Parkrun in 2017 was a game-changer for me. After that, I began reading about different types of training and started following plans like Jack Daniels’ Running Formula. I even signed up for a 10K race in February 2017, which gave me something to focus on besides the overall distance goal. I managed to run 44:44 in the 10K, which felt like a major breakthrough, and it was the first time I experienced what consistency could do.
My proudest achievements are those moments when I hit new milestones, whether it’s a PB for 5K or completing my first marathon in 2022. While the marathon was tough and I wasn’t fully prepared, the experience was unforgettable and motivated me to do better in the future. Another high point was breaking 20 minutes in the 5K, which felt like a huge victory.
Running and Mental Health: A Lifesaving Habit
As I mentioned in my Running for Mental Health article, running has been essential for managing my anxiety and depression. If you want to know how my mental health is, just check my Strava profile. When I’m running consistently, I’m in a good place. Running gives me purpose, and even when things were at their worst, it forced me to get outside and move.
During a six-week depressive spell, running was the only thing that got me out of bed. The runs didn’t feel good, but they kept me moving, which I believe was essential for my recovery. While running doesn’t solve stress or anxiety, it helps manage it, and over time, I’ve learned that running is more of a preventive measure for my mental health than a remedy.
My Running Journey: Goals and the Road Ahead
Looking ahead for my running journey, I have some clear goals. I’m aiming to break 20 minutes for 5K before the end of the year and hit a 1 hour 35 minute half marathon in December 2024. Long term, I’m still chasing the 40-minute 10K target, a goal I’ve had since 2012. I believe with consistent training, I’ll hit it by early 2025.
I’ve started following a plan using Runna, something I’ve struggled with in the past due to a lack of accountability. This time, I’m documenting my journey here to keep myself accountable and stay on track. With the progress I’ve made over the years, I know there’s still a lot more potential to unlock.
Final Thoughts: Advice for New Runners
If you’re just starting your running journey, my advice is simple: start slow. The slower you start, the easier it will feel, and that makes it easier to stick with. Consistency is the key to everything. Once you’ve built that habit, everything else—speed, endurance, personal bests—will come. Running has given me so much, and if you can get even half the satisfaction from it that I have, I promise it will be worth it.
