“One and a half years ago, I was knee deep in the newborn/toddler juggle and felt like my identity had hard shifted to ‘Liah: Lily and Alex’s mum’. I wasn’t sure what to do for ‘me time’ and felt pretty overwhelmed juggling the kids, house responsibilities and my business on top.
I decided one night to pop my shoes on and went for a 2km run. It was more a walk/run/crawl and took me 20 minutes. It was pretty discouraging and painful, but it was definitely the start of something great.
I entered a local 10km off-road event two months later and used events to keep me focused and continue training. It was pretty evident that if I just consistently put those shoes on, I’d get stronger and faster with each run. In the early days there were a lot of runs with the two girls in the double buggy, but I was pretty committed and that was often the only way to get a run in for the day. Every time I would walk I would have Lily yelling at me ‘run mum run’… so she was essentially my first coach! I love how much the kids get involved and it motivates them too.
Running for me has been not only an outlet, but it gives me such a sense of pride too. For years I wanted to run a half marathon and to complete a Triathlon, and last November I managed to tick both those off. It’s aided me in loosing over 30kgs since that first run and has really changed my life the past couple years. Beyond the physical, I really do believe exercise has made me a better mum. Although exercise adds more to my day, prioritising ‘me time’ makes me way happier and more present, and for that I am pretty grateful.
This community is so motivating and encouraging too. I’m pretty excited to see what running adventures are on the horizon.”
Liah @liah.hughes
(Taranaki)
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Portraits of Runners + their stories
@RunnersNZ
