Fitness Friday: Can you run the Race for Life with no training?

What seems like a very long time ago, I signed up for the Race for Life 5k for Cancer Research, with the encouragement of Scottish Power. I’ve wanted to complete a Race for Life for a long time – like many people, I have lost loved ones thanks to cancer, and when Scottish Power contacted me about becoming part of their blogger running team, I knew I had to say yes. It was the push I needed to finally sign up for an actual race and put into action something I’ve been saying I would do for a long time:

Scottish Power are running a high five campaign where you can upload a picture of your Race for Life high five. 60,000 high fives will raise £35,000 for Cancer Research and given we all love a photo, it’s such an easy thing to do for charity. They’re currently at over 37,000 high fives so over half way there! However my dog Meg wasn’t very impressed with the giant foam hand I was sporting and wouldn’t play at giving me a high five – what a spoilsport!

I wrote the title for this post before I ran the Race for Life on Sunday, having finally accepted what an idiot I had been. Who signs up for a running event – not to mention one they are doing in partnership with a company – and doesn’t train? This idiot apparently. I meant well, I really did. I love the idea of being a runner; that person who casually completes a few miles before work, with a set of abs and long limbs which pummel the streets. In reality, I am not that girl. Give me a swimming pool, a squat rack or a yoga mat any day. I failed at even getting on a treadmill or making any use of the Couch to 5k app I had enthusiastically downloaded months ago. Whenever I aimed to go for a run, I just never seemed to get round to it and suddenly, race day was upon me.

As race day arrived, I was unbelievably nervous. Luckily, one of my friends is a veteran of races, having completed the Spartan multiple times as well as many other obstacle races. I vowed to stick with her throughout the course and to my amazement, I managed it. I finished with a time of 36 minutes. Given that I don’t run for the bus, I can’t describe how proud of myself I actually am and I even got that ‘runner’s buzz’ for the first time ever!

So if you’ve got a Race for Life coming up or thinking about entering, don’t worry about your fitness level. Just do it. It’s for a fantastic cause and you might just surprise yourself.