Guest Post: It's never too late to start running!

Today I'm delighted to welcome my mum to the blog! My mum only took up running very recently and I thought it might be nice to get a beginners perspective on running and races. I know I'm biased but I'm so proud of what she's achieved and I think she's an inspiration. Obviously my mum and I approach running very differently due to our respective ages and abilities, so without further ado here's my mum with her running story...

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Hello, my name is Dee and I am Vikki's mum. As you all know, Vikki runs... a lot. I don't!

I do enjoy keeping fit though and take zumba and body pump classes at my local gym. I also used to go fast walking two or three times a week round our local park for about an hour at a time; that was enough for me! Anyway just over a year ago, Vikki persuaded me to try running, suggesting I start slowly with short bursts of running combined with walking. I found a really good training app for my iPhone called Get Running, a programme that coaches you to run 5k in 9 weeks. It is a really excellent programme, starting you off gently on week one with 8 one minute runs with one and a half minutes walk in between, building gradually till you are running for 30 mins non stop. Running didn't feature in my life at all at the start but I found to be a really easy way to start running and build my stamina. The first time I used it I was very breathless after just one minute of running, but even on the second day out I noticed the difference.

After I had finished this programme and was running at least a couple of times a week, Vikki persuaded me to take part in a parkrun, which had just started up in my local park. I must say, the first time I did it I felt totally knackered at the end, but recovered quickly and was raring to go again. I must confess, I did not go regularly, and once the weather turned, I almost stopped running altogether. I am definitely a fair weather runner! Anyway, in an effort to keep me fit I think, Vikki talked me into doing a 10k run with her, I must have had a few glasses of Pinot or something, because my response was, "oh well it's only two parkruns, so why not"! So I kept waiting for the weather to improve so I could go training again, but as we all know, this year has not seen much sun, so I didn't really start training until about 5 weeks ago :(

Well last weekend we took part in the Trailblazer10k at Bedgebury Pinetum. Luckily it wasn't raining! I was actually quite nervous the day before and on the morning of the run. I didn't think I would be as apart from running a few times a week, I hadn't really thought much about the actual run. Once we got started though I felt fine and actually enjoyed it. Vikki, bless her, ran with me all the way, giving me loads of encouragement along the way, not giving any thoughts to the fact she would come in the slowest she had ever, ever run. The marshals along the route were great too, being really kind, funny and encouraging, even though we were almost at the back of our wave.

I did walk a few times for a minute or so at a time, mainly on the hills. I hadn't give much thought that it may not be flat! Anyway, we finished in one hour 21 minutes. I did feel proud of myself having actually run this far. And the training must continue as Vikki has also persuaded me to take part in the National Lottery Anniversary Run in 6 weeks time. This time though it's only 5 miles :)