New Year, New Me!

Fitness is much more than just being physical fit.  It goes further than pushing your body.  Where is your head space? If you are in the right frame of mind your activity will be much more enjoyable. 

How many of us have made new year resolutions that last no longer than the first month.  Maybe this is because your activity goals are to big and you soon realise you have bitten off to much.  Setting small goals are more productive, more achievable and lead to bigger goals in time.

 

In the couch groups, I hear, “I will never complete this” or “I normally get so far and give in”. Our successes have proved anything is possible with mind over matter.  It’s really important to be in control of the voices that say you won’t be able to do this.  So here is my approach to achieving goals with starting small.

 

Before you start to run, I encourage people to get out walking and achieve a 30 minute walk non stop.  That’s your first goal.  Once you can achieve this comfortable try our couch to 30 minute programme.  We use the 9 week C25K programme, which is a total of 27 runs to get you fit enough to run for 30 minutes non stop.  Now you have achieved goal number two it’s time to take on goal number three and complete a 5km run non stop.  At this point your stamina and fitness levels should be at a point where you feel great.  Are you ready for goal number four?  Now this is your big challenge, working towards completing a 10km run, but remember it’s not a race and putting all the technique in place with your stamina levels to complete this goal will show you how far you have come.

 

A few members of the crew have completed this within six months from zero to hero, some will take longer but it proves nothing is impossible.   The support of the group is overwhelming and everyone has their personal goals or reason for joining the group, however the one thing I see is the improvement in everyone’s head space and mental well-being.  It takes individuals courage to take the first step and just show up, it takes dedication to go out on your own when you miss a run and it takes a lot to reach out when you are struggling.

 

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