Run Melbourne

The Run Melbourne event and I don’t have a good history.  I first entered the event in 2014 and was excited as I’d been in training for many months.  I raised funds beforehand for Parkinson’s Disease as my father suffers from this insidious disease and was proud to help out in this way. Tragically my husband’s younger brother died suddenly at around this time and I didn’t make it to the Run Melbourne event.  My daughter and I did a run on the actual day, with me wearing my event shirt and number – it was a really good way to release some pentup stress. Shock is a post I wrote at this very sad time.

I didn’t enter in 2015, again for family reasons, but I did think about it.

This year I was all excited and raring to go, my training was on track and I was aiming for my first sub 30 minute 5km run.  I was on fire! Well I was until I suffered a series of illnesses, which I believe were as a result of bad news about my workplace and my job. Since then I have been up and down, and due to illness I’ve been unable to train for the past month or so.  The cold, miserable winter weather hasn’t helped the situation.

Yesterday I received my race number and other event details in the mail.  I should have been excited, and a little part of me was pleased to see my name and number, but another part of me was understandably upset.  I will still attend the event, it’s a great opportunity to see my sister and her husband and I’m going to actually ‘meet’ one of my blogging friends for the first time, but I know I can’t run the event.  I will try to walk the 5km route just so that I can experience the atmosphere and feel a part of it but I’ve reconciled myself to the fact that I can’t run, I’m simply not strong enough yet.

So will I try again next year?  I think I will.  I’ll be in a different head space next year, I’ll be made redundant from work by the end of 2016, I’ll have more time to train and I’ll be able to stay healthy away from such a toxic work environment.  That’s only if we’re not away travelling the world as a newly retired, footloose and fancy free couple!

It doesn’t hurt to have goals but only as long as they’re flexible and open to the unexpected.  I have had to learn to take things as they come and not put too much pressure on myself.  Life is a real journey and sometimes we don’t know why things happen the way they do. I know that running is good for me, I enjoy the simplicity of it.   The weather will start to improve soon and things will settle down.

One day at a time! One foot in front of the other! Every journey begins with the first step.

IT’S TIME TO RUN THIS CITY!

Run Melbourne is more than just a “fun run”. For many participants, it is an opportunity to give back to the community by raising funds for a cause close to their hearts.