At school, I was never much cop at sport. I was one of those kids who preferred to sit behind the bike sheds and smoke fags or bunk off into town to go shopping for black eyeliner and "Sun-In".
It wasn't that I was had no ability whatsoever. I just wasn't "good enough". The school I went to was incredibly competitive. If you didn't excel at something, you got left behind. I don't remember much encouragement to run "for the joy of running", for example. I don't really recall being told "it's the taking part that counts". I do remember being laughed at because I came last in the Cross Country run. The sports I didn't particularly mind, tennis and swimming, were seasonal. Therefore I didn't get to enjoy these on a regular basis. It didn't help that the swimming pool was heated by solar panels and my heart stopped beating for around ninety seconds upon diving in. That was the time it took to thaw out.
When I left school, that was the end of my dalliance with sport, at least for a few years. I occasionally dabbled with gym memberships, but as I am an "all or nothing" kind of person, these went by the wayside as soon as each particular sporadic obsession with fitness was extinguished.
I had a lot of "shit" happen to me in my teens (didn't we all) and not such an easy time in my twenties, either. Sport was not a part of my life during any of this. I went to counselling for the problems I had, on and off, for 15 years.
It seems to me that life is all about "balance" and this is something I struggle with. Until now, that is. After a "smack in the face" at the beginning of 2010 (I broke my arm badly and had two operations on it, to have it pinned, and finally de-pinned), this year has finally seen me achieve some balance in my life. I have lost weight, and I have started running. The broken arm was very debilitating and taught me that I should appreciate the healthy body I have, and make improvements in my lifestyle so that I can be the healthiest I can be.
It's not just about physical health either. I am a Mum to two very young children, and stress levels are ordinarily set to medium-high to very-high. Running helps me to unwind and de-stress. I go VERY slowly (once a donkey, always a donkey), but it doesn't matter. The only person I am competing against is me.
In the spirit of positivity, I am entering the Lausanne 10 km Run on 31 October 2010. I think I can do it. I really do.
And I thought it would be nice to run for charity, so I have chosen one that focuses on encouraging young people to get involved with sport, to give them goals, to fight boredom and potentially "getting in with the wrong crowd", to keep them fit and healthy and, most importantly, to give them self-worth and self-esteem.
My only wish was that I had been encouraged, or indeed had found my own motivation, to get involved with sport at a much earlier age. Something tells me I might not have had to spend quite so much time in my life talking to counsellors, had I done so.
If you would like to hear about the progress of my training for this event, please visit http://www.runningmyarseoutoftown.wordpress.com
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.
