New Year’s Eve can bring a slew of posts on social media about how rubbish the year has been and how next year has to be better. I’m here to even things up.
The last day of 2016 saw me struggling to get my derrière out of bed. When I finally did, I came up with a thousand reasons why parkrun was a bad idea so it was over to running buddy Esther and fellow blogger Gareth to talk some sense into me.
“The days that you don’t want to run are the days that you really need to run.”
It really is true.
I complained the whole way around. It was hard. It was painful. It was accompanied by expletives from Esther and complaints from me about my bum aching. This pattern continued the whole way around. Never has 5k felt so long. But, we kept going. The joy of parkrun is that there is no pressure, it’s just about getting your backside out of bed and moving.
I didn’t get a pb, I nearly passed out at the finish line and my butt cheek still aches. Somewhere around the finish line I found my positive pants and kept running to take my mileage up to four miles. This did include running aimlessly around the car park for the last 0.15 miles to hit the magic number.
So, I ended 2016 running. My new year started on the second of January with a climb up Pen y Fan to watch the sunrise accompanied by some of my favourite people. I’m starting the year as I mean to go on, by being outside in the fresh air. It’s self-medication.
Now, don’t get me wrong, 2016 has had its moments of being completely rubbish but the positives far outweigh the negatives. I’m still running, I’ve had my first running related injury (this makes me quite proud), I jeffed my first 10K, I ran my second, I finished a half marathon, climbed a Moroccan mountain, I’m fitter, stronger and healthier than I have ever been. I’ve met new people, made new friendships and encouraged others to join me.
2016, you have been awesome. 2017 has a lot to live up to but I have a sneaky suspicion that it’s going to me amazing.