It appears that my running skills are actually growing. It’s all because I stepped in and ran with my daughter at the Stafford Half-Marathon’s Fun Run, in March 2025. I was a little nervous, but sure that the one mile (1.6km) distance wouldn’t cause an issue. It turned out to be far more useful than I had expected.
As Rose was unable to do the Fun Run, I decided that I needed to run with Roo, as she would likely step away from it. Setting ourselves up, we had our race numbers fixed to us and stood on the line that offered the last mile of the full half-marathon. They had all shot off in the opposite direction, ten minutes earlier. Roo had a few stitches, but it taught me what my pace was. It turns out that it is slightly slower than what I have been doing on the treadmill. I would like to take this opportunity to say that running outside is FAR easier than on a treadmill! Treadmills are BORING! That is all!
The cheering on is incredible and the finish line adds a sense of elation that I had not thought possible. Finding my pace, I managed to run, last night, for a whole 3.42km. This is a miracle, but testament to finding your own stride. I am now contemplating doing larger runs in the future, where the 2.5km that I will run in the May triathlon was a nightmare, I am even thinking about working up to a 10k! This a great learning curve and I more than keen to see others push themselves. It feels quite great!
