Motivation

So, as my aim is to improve my overall level of fitness and lose weight in the process, I thought that I needed a challenge to keep me motivated. What better than the Trail Running Magazine's challenge of running 1000 miles in 2017?

To achieve the challenge I need to run an average of 19.2 miles per week, which I'm sure you'll agree is a respectable amount of mileage for any runner. Yet it is also a realistic and achievable goal which I think promotes a consistent approach to running.

There's a Facebook group where runners who've taken up the challenge can share their progress, share their problems and pose any questions. There's also a Strava group where, if you wish to, you can share your daily progress and log your running activity. This, for me is all motivation and a kick up the backside that I sometimes need to get me out of the door.

Fancy giving it a go? #Run1000Miles

Weigh In

So here goes, this is when it all starts, weigh in day. For a 5 foot 9 bloke (average height!!!), 14 stone and 4 pounds is a pretty substantial weight. My aim is to achieve 12 stone by July this year, a pretty realistic and achievable goal I think.

Now to achieve this I won't be partaking in any fad diets, magical tablets or relying on divine intervention. Instead, I hope to achieve this by regular exercise (running), a healthy balanced diet, reducing my alcohol intake (this will be the most difficult part) and by developing and maintaining a positive mental attitude.

I think I should also point out that my weight loss goal isn't borne out of vanity, but that it runs hand in hand with my overall aim of improving my health, fitness and general well being.

My family are fully behind me in this endeavour and I aim to make them proud!

Mission Launch

Okay, here we go my first post.

The inspiration for this blog came from a chance conversation with my family. This particular day we were all sat around the dining table having a midweek evening meal, casually chatting about our days events and other normal family things. The conversation led to the children's hobbies of dancing and riding and my wife's business of being a dance principal and running a dance school, and how these respective pursuits keep them fit. All eyes then turned to me.

"So what about you Dad, are you keeping fit?" asked the kids in unison.

"Well", I replied sheepishly, "I am running, occasionally, when I have time."

The girls looked at each other with a knowing look that didn't need any words, I knew exactly what they were thinking.

"Keep running Dad, it'll do you good", was their simple and honest reply to me. This reignited a flame in me that had been dormant for a few years.

I'm forty six years old, three stone overweight, with high blood pressure and  I need to make some serious lifestyle changes.

I'm not new to running. In 2013, I ran a marathon in the Lake District and then two months later I ran an Ultra Marathon of 100KM, also in the Lake District. These are both achievements that I'm proud of but they are also achievements that I struggled to recover from.

Since those events of 2013 I have really only done the minimum to maintain a basic level of fitness, and I do mean basic.

Now a switch has been flicked and I am once again on a mission to achieve something bigger, but this time I also aim to maintain a higher level of fitness and make it a lifelong mission.

Here goes.