“Why do I love running? I’ve realised how much it’s helped with building my mental resilience, depending on the challenge ahead.
Over a year ago, I joined the running club at industrial fitness, which Conner Harding taught. We did different styles of training each week, whether it was trail, road, even sprints, or the one we all know and love; the beep test. I couldn’t believe how quickly I saw improvements. Roll on a year and I decided it was time to train for a marathon. This was making training and running my daily routine and proving to myself I wouldn’t quit.
I loved the training. The event itself however? Hated it! I felt like a failure. I stopped and walked a lot of it. Never in training had I stopped or walked during a run. This is where I truly started to learn how fragile the mind is and how our mental state is so powerful no matter how physically ready we are. I have learnt to take it slow when I find it getting hard; quite often it’s about taking a step back as the hard parts can feel harder when struggling mentally. I love running as it’s teaching me that when I feel my weakest, I can learn to adapt by becoming my strongest.
That’s why I fell for trail training. Being completely on your own and only having yourself to rely on pushes you to learn so much about yourself. The day of the race can go anyway it wants to, you just have to learn to listen to yourself and learn what’s best for you. For me, I just want to keep getting out there and challenging myself but ensuring that I’m enjoying it.”
Fiona @fionasimms
(Queenstown)
Photo taken at Northburn
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