Walker to runner / Great Scottish Run

This post is in partnership with the Great Scottish Run to share my experiences, training and involvement in this years Glasgow event.

Running. It’s never been my thing. I was alway last at sports day and the one moaning at the back of the pack during cross country. I am healthy and maintain average fitness but for some reason when put against other people my confidence totally crumbles. I always blamed team sports, and being useless at them, however i’ve come to realise it is more than that. It is in every situation where it’s possible I will compare myself to others. In sports, at the gym, socially. About 2 years ago, it all got so bad that I was leaving the gym after doing three classes back to back, having burnt 2000 calories – feeling like a failure. It was then that I took to hill walking and wild swimming. I could be myself without worrying about not being good enough, there was nobody around, no competition and there were so many other factors to consider before I even began to worry about how bad I was doing.

So, 2 years on from my miserable life living and failing in the gym. I feel more educated about my body, confident in small achievements and feeling able to commit to something that could have possibly destroyed me mentally a few years ago. I signed up to the Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run and training is underway. To ease me into this, I am doing the 10k rather than the half marathon and so far so good in terms of training. There have been a few ‘bad runs,’ the kind that feel sluggish and boring but what I’ve learnt is; even the bad ones give me a sense of accomplishment. I did that run feeling the way I felt, nobody else, just me. And that usually comes with a small and quiet sense of pride.

With a summer of travel in the pipeline, my real challenge is going to be maintaining the fitness I have just now until September. But as a new reader of running blogs, I am finding out all kinds of great ways to keep the momentum up while on the road. I’ll be documenting and sharing these over the next few months on Instagram (@ronamcmillan) if you’d like to follow the journey.

On a side note: entries for the Great Scottish Run are still open. If you’d like to sign up to any of the events head to www.greatscottishrun.com!