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We were living in Hanoi, Vietnam at the time and if you don't know it, it is a city crammed full of buildings, people, motorbikes, street cafes, dogs, and noise. Busy, noisy, exciting but claustrophobic. My little pleasure of the day was to take our dog Lily for a gentle jog around one of the lakes.
Fast forward a few years and I found myself (with my husband Bill, 3 kids and of course Lily) living in the South of France, Limoux to be precise. What a fantastic place to be. I still look out the window from our dining room and think "Wow, I'm lucky".
Wanting to integrate, my husband and I joined the local running club and all of a sudden, running became a bit more organised and frequent. And I needed new running stuff that I didn't know that I needed. Yes, got to look the part. I was also introduced to running races. Me who never got on a sports team at school and who had never won a sporting prize in her life. Well lo and behold, in my first race I came away with a 3rd place trophy and 2 bottles of wine. I was hooked! Run for wine, yes please.
Fast forward a couple of years and much as I enjoyed running in general, it had become stressful. I seemed to go from one injury to the next, running races had become les enjoyable and more anxiety producing and I just had sort of lost my love of running. Forced to take 4 months off with an Achilles injury was the final straw and it made me reassess why I run and should I continue.
The answer was clear to me. I love running whether I am fast or slow. It is a way of de-stressing, a way of seeing and enjoying the French countryside, a way of socializing with other runners. So yes I definitely wanted to run. However I wanted to enjoy running which in essence meant being injury free and not getting het up about speed and paces.
I feel I have gone full circle from wanting to run for fresh air and pleasure, to running to compete and then back again to running for fresh air and enjoyment.
I don't want to get injured again so I take running seriously from the point of view that I try and look after my body (ok I do drink wine, eat lots of cheese, love the late night village fetes....) and I train carefully knowing that as an older runner, I am not as 'bounce backish' as my younger self.
PS More Running specific information is on my website www.midliferunning.com
Fast forward a few years and I found myself (with my husband Bill, 3 kids and of course Lily) living in the South of France, Limoux to be precise. What a fantastic place to be. I still look out the window from our dining room and think "Wow, I'm lucky".
Wanting to integrate, my husband and I joined the local running club and all of a sudden, running became a bit more organised and frequent. And I needed new running stuff that I didn't know that I needed. Yes, got to look the part. I was also introduced to running races. Me who never got on a sports team at school and who had never won a sporting prize in her life. Well lo and behold, in my first race I came away with a 3rd place trophy and 2 bottles of wine. I was hooked! Run for wine, yes please.
Fast forward a couple of years and much as I enjoyed running in general, it had become stressful. I seemed to go from one injury to the next, running races had become les enjoyable and more anxiety producing and I just had sort of lost my love of running. Forced to take 4 months off with an Achilles injury was the final straw and it made me reassess why I run and should I continue.
The answer was clear to me. I love running whether I am fast or slow. It is a way of de-stressing, a way of seeing and enjoying the French countryside, a way of socializing with other runners. So yes I definitely wanted to run. However I wanted to enjoy running which in essence meant being injury free and not getting het up about speed and paces.
I feel I have gone full circle from wanting to run for fresh air and pleasure, to running to compete and then back again to running for fresh air and enjoyment.
I don't want to get injured again so I take running seriously from the point of view that I try and look after my body (ok I do drink wine, eat lots of cheese, love the late night village fetes....) and I train carefully knowing that as an older runner, I am not as 'bounce backish' as my younger self.
PS More Running specific information is on my website www.midliferunning.com
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