Do you enjoy running?

Are you having fun yet?

I was asked this question yesterday, after running from our house, across the South Downs National Park, to one of my little boys best friends birthday parties. Walking in a little sweaty and a tiny bit smelly (I’d run through three farms!) I needed a quick change before grabbing a coffee with the other parentals.

Anyway, smells aside, back to the question at hand…. I kind of laughed and said “nah, not really” to which my wife responded “well, you go out enough so you must enjoy it?”. I wasn’t sure if that was a dig at how much I go out (I’m reassured it wasn’t) or if she was stating the obvious… I think she was.

A short conversation then ensued debating whether or not I actually enjoy it. It was between four adults, but I think it was actually me verbalising my own internal debate. Do I actually enjoy it? Hmmm. I wasn’t convinced.

This very run, was hard (hills), challenging (mud), cold (exposed river bank = 5km of cold ass headwind), challenging again (navigating very slowly through herds of cows can calmly shouting “it’s ok Betty, I’m here. We’re good. Don’t trample me” etc.). Tricky (not knowing, if the bridge I saw on my map research the night before actually existed and at the very end of my run, how to exit the 10ft steel fence to get to my family on the other side). But challenges and tricks aside, my last picture taken, I was smiling. Yes, after all that, I had fun!

Before I go into my inner battles of making running fun (or not), ask yourself that very question.

Do you enjoy it? Do you find running fun?

For me, running has definitely been one of my hardest challenges of Triathlon. Swimming, fine. Cycling, it’s just like riding a bike. Running, I couldn’t run 1km 2 years ago. So it’s been tough.

This “off season” however, I’ve decided to really push myself and crack on with running. I wanted to get quicker and I wanted to go further.

First stop was entering a few run events. Just like Tri, it gives you focus. I prefer off road running, my knees prefer it too, so I entered a couple of xc events running both day and night with a couple of distances to mix it up. The first was a challenging off road route with a vicious set of hills mid lap (we did 8 laps). It was also only a week after my last tri of the season and I could tell my body was looking forward to a relax. Joints were hurting. Muscles were getting tired. But I ploughed on and surprised myself with an 8th place! I never thought I’d get anywhere near that high. So yea, that was pretty fun!

The next “event” run was the Maverick Dark Series run. That was epic. Sure there was risk of breaking / spraining ankles etc., but getting coated in mud, at night, running through bogs and forests, only being able to see what your head torch saw, was hella fun. A great challenge, but soooo much fun.

Second, after seeing a lot of posts on local Facebook pages asking if anyone knew of a local running group, I could see there was none, so #runpals was born. A run group I’ve organised to get local pals together to have some fun.

One month in, we now have a really great bunch of people regularly meeting up once a week to go for a run. All abilities. All ages. All wanting to get together and have some fun! We’ve done flat road runs, challenging wet and windy off road trails and interval games. But really, we’ve got our backsides off the sofa, out the door, to have some fun??!! It helps that one doesn’t want to let’s ones new RunPals down by not going, but also, secretly, even if deep down, you want to have a little bit of fun whilst out running.

Thirdly, I started volunteering with my eldest boy (he’s five) at our local Peacehaven ParkRun. We got involved partly because my boy loves a high five, so getting a couple hundred on a Saturday morning sets him up for the day pretty good, but also because it just feels fantastic cheering people on and seeing them push themselves that little bit further and seeing them, despite the pain in their face, enjoying themselves when they get to scan their barcode at the finish.

So it’s true, people CAN have fun running.

Subliminally, it’s seeped in to my conscious that I have another new secret obsession – looking for new routes or new places my family can drop me off and I run back from. Secretly, I kind of do enjoy running. Some words I never thought would come out of my mouth.

So yea, I think I kind of do like running. I prefer triathlon, but I’ve forced myself into running and I kind of enjoy it. A little bit. 😊 😀