I turned to my friend one day and said, “We should be fitter in our forties than we were in our teens.” Kind of a ridiculous statement, isn’t it? Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not a complete couch potato but let’s just say that I am not a fan of the gym.

Growing up, I preferred bike riding or roller-blading to stay fit but the problem is, as I got older, the less I did these activities. Once I passed 35, I was picking up weight faster than I could lose it and I realized I needed to make a change.

So…I started running. Well to be honest, I started walking. Running to me was a form of torture. When my friend told me she was training to run the 2 Oceans Marathon, I said to her, “I could think of nothing worse than to run for 21km. I’d rather have another baby before I ran a marathon!” So walking it was! I felt good doing it and it was totally manageable and actually, kind of easy. But then I was challenged to up my game, so I walked for a few minutes and tried running for a few minutes.

I then set a goal for myself to run for 1 kilometre without stopping. Now that might not seem like a big deal to you but the last time I ran 1 kilometre without stopping was 1990! So I started with that and gradually pushed myself a little further each time. My goal before the end of the year is to do a 5 kilometre run and I think I can do it!

Since running I have lost weight, I have more energy and it really helps keep my stress levels down. So here’s what I learnt as I have begun running:

  1. Start wherever you are. It doesn’t matter how far you can run, just start somewhere and keep pushing a little further each time. You will be amazed at how quickly your body responds.
  2. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Remember, no matter how slow you are running, you are still lapping the person sitting on the couch! So give yourself a pat on the back for effort and just keep going.
  3. Make perseverance your friend. Your body can run much further than your mind tells you you can so just persevere. Keep running, keep trying, keep sweating and you’ll keep getting fitter and leaner.

Nothing in life worth having ever comes easy, so set yourself a goal and just keep hammering away at it. Stay consistent and before you know it, you’ll look back and see yourself doing things you never imagined!

Every time I run, I’m reminded of this verse in the Bible, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

There’s a race of faith you were destined to run so my prayer is that after reading this post, you would consider running to get fit and begin running your race of faith too! To find out more, please click on the link below.