So, I started running in October 2014, hopefully my blog can help motivate others to start as well and give them the motivation to keep going 🙂 . To keep myself motivated I try and sign up for runs every few weeks, the second I see or hear of one I sign up for it before I even give myself the chance to think if I am able for it!

My first run was the Run in the Dark in Dublin for the Mark Pollock Trust on Wednesday 12th November, a 5km route through the city at night time.  I was pretty nervous because I had about three weeks training from nothing and was only running a route of 3km.  The run was great, all the people running around is great motivation to keep going and not wanting to stop and walk!  I was very proud and completed the run in about 35mins 30seconds 🙂 The 2015 run information is already available http://www.runinthedark.org , this run happens all over the world on the same day!

My next run was more of a challenge, the Clontarf 5mile on the 29th November.  Don’t know why I signed up for it and I did struggle, but the excitement of finishing after the run was amazing!! I was so happy, I ran a majority of the course and took a few small about 30second walking breaks to get my breath back.  My time was 55mins 35seconds, and I was in shock, thought I would be over an hour 🙂  I had hoped I could do it in under an hour but never expected to do it!

My next run was the Santa Dash 5km in Dublin for Down Syndrome Ireland.  This was a fun run and had to dress up as Santa Claus and run on the beach, the drive up was hilarious and children were staring into the car in shock when they saw two Santa’s in the car!  It was great fun, freezing but worth it.  I have to admit I struggled on this run and finished in 33mins 38secs, this is still better then my last 5km so I was pretty happy 😀 The medals for this run are amazing, there was a choice of four and I picked the pudding medal that plays a Christmas song!

The state of me ha ha!!!

Matching gel nails 🙂

My dad got me this garmin forerunner10 watch for Christmas, it is amazing and brilliant for working on my time! I will do a seperate review on it as it has so many different options:

Garmin Forerunner 10

My latest run was the Axa 5mile run in Raheny, Dublin.  All I can say is this is a brilliant run and organised amazingly well.  The route is one big loop of the park and is a mixture of downhill and uphill.  My dad also ran but I wasn’t even aiming to compete with him, he is a multiple marathon and ultra marathon runner!  I was sick with tonsillitis before this run, so I my main aim was to run as much as I could and forget about the time, my training was virtually non-existent.  But I managed to complete it in a new record time of 52mins 58secs!!! I was over the moon and they give a serious goodie bag at this run!

My next run is on in a few weeks and it is a 10km route. I am going to stop increasing my distances after this one and start aiming to increase my times for runs between 5km and 10km. I don’t do as much training as I should, I aim to go every second night but that doesn’t always go to plan.  Never punish yourself if you don’t go though, because that is when running turns into a chore and not something you enjoy!

Anybody else starting out running and have advice?  Always set a goal to encourage yourself 🙂
Amanda xxx