{"id":7104,"date":"2019-09-12T11:00:22","date_gmt":"2019-09-12T10:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mzuri.co.uk\/news\/?p=7104"},"modified":"2019-09-12T22:08:57","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T21:08:57","slug":"stepping-up-the-pace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mzuri.co.uk\/news\/general\/stepping-up-the-pace\/","title":{"rendered":"Stepping up the pace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On a dark and wet January night last year, I decided it was time to get back into running. My last foray into running was over 10 years ago, when a friend decided she wanted to run a half marathon and she cajoled me into joining her. I\u2019ve always had a love-hate relationship with running, but with a young son and husband who works long hours, running seemed like a good exercise to choose as I can fit it in more easily than committing to classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kick starting the process with the Couch to 5k<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Couch to 5K<\/a> felt like a good place to start, but I knew I\u2019d need a bit more than an app to get me going. So I booked a 6 week course with a local trainer who promised to get me to 5k at the end of the course. The first few weeks were tough, dark, cold, rainy \u2013 and even snowy, but I kept going and was really pleased to do my first 5K in week 5. It was more by accident than planning as the app I was using went silent so I kept running and waiting for it to tell me to stop, I finally gave in and checked it only to see I\u2019d smashed the 5K. I now use a different app called mapmyrun<\/a> to track my progress, it\u2019s never let me down and is a great way to look back and see how far you\u2019ve come on your running journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking my running to the next level<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since achieving my first 5K in over 10 years, my running bug has only grown. 18 months later, I\u2019m running 3 or 4 times a week mostly on my own and then once a week with some girlfriends where we put the world to rights whilst pounding the Devil\u2019s Punchbowl! I never thought I\u2019d be able to run and chat, but actually, when we run together the time and distance is much easier with a good old chat to pass the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019ve also really enjoyed doing the Parkrun<\/a>, which is a free organised 5K every Saturday, held at over 600 locations across the UK. Hogmoor Inclosure Parkrun is our local and you will often find one or two people from Mzuri running there on the odd Saturday. It\u2019s a great initiative and a fun way to try and improve your time as although it\u2019s not a race, you get a time<\/g> and can track your progress. Since my first Parkrun in February last year, I\u2019ve shaved just over 9 minutes off my time to sneak under 29 minutes. My next goal is to get under 28 minutes \u2013 and even 27! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Running with the little people in our lives<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have little ones keen to join in with your running, why not go to Junior Parkrun<\/a> together? It\u2019s a 2K course for 4 \u2013 14 year olds held at over 280 locations across the UK. All you need to do is get everyone registered, print your barcode\u2026and run\u2026jog\u2026walk\u2026skip\u2026hop \u2013 and enjoy! <\/p>\n\n\n\n