Kirsten is a perfect Ten
Self-confessedgingirlisontherun
I was always the girl that ‘forgot’ her PE kit when it was cross country week at school – and even now it’s no secret that I’m more of a ‘gin’ girl rather than a ‘gym’ girl.
When it was announced a few weeks ago that Hamilton would host its first 10k run this September, I decided that it I would set myself the ultimate challenge and sign up.
A few of my friends laughed when I told them and my mum even said: “Kirsten that’s not even that long away you better start training now.” So I did.
Three weeks ago, I roped my colleague Shirley into going for a run every day before we start work.
This meant having to wake up at 6am, roll out of bed and head straight to our new running route at the Baron’s Haugh nature reserve in Motherwell.
At first, we kind of winged it with no plan or distance or anything.
Shirley and I are partial to a blether though, so we only kind of started running in between chatting.
A friend told me about the 5k Runner app which talks to you and tells you when to run and how long for. It’s really working and helping us stay on track, so it’s something we have continued to use.
It was so far so good on the training front until I went to TRNSMT festival last weekend and woke up on Monday with an extremely sore head.
Part of me wanted to just stay in bed all day but another part felt guilty and actually worried that I would undo all the effort I had put in throughout the last few weeks.
I was concerned that I would keep putting off getting back to it.
So, instead of feeling sorry for myself all day, I decided to take a run up to the Falls of the Clyde in Lanark and I am so glad I did. It was hard going but the feeling you get once you are done really is brilliant!
Even though we are only three weeks in and my legs are like jelly, I can already feel a huge difference in my ability to run.
I’ll be updating you on how it goes over the next few weeks, and my progress so far.
So for anyone who would like to get involved in the Hamilten 10k but doesn’t think they can, set yourself a challenge and sign up today!