I’d been saying to myself that I needed more hobbies for ages but, for a long time, my main hobby seemed to be making excuses. So in January, I stopped making excuses and finally plucked up the courage to join the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation (YCF) Running Club. And I’m very glad I did.

 

Although I go to the gym regularly, before I joined YCF Running Club I had only really been for a run a few times before and never really enjoyed it. Running felt like a hard slog that I was only doing to keep fit. I joined the YCF Running Club to give running another chance in the hope that running with other people and chatting at the same time would make it easier and more interesting. From my first session, I found that this was definitely the case. When you run with other people and talk at the same time, you don’t focus on the fact you are running and, before you know it, you’ve clocked up a few miles without realising it!

 

My first session was on a freezing cold January evening; the weather alone enough to put anybody off leaving the house. But, I powered through. I remember being really nervous beforehand as I didn’t really know what to expect. However, as soon as I walked through the door my fears were alleviated. As I feebly said ‘Hi, I’m new’ I was greeted by the reassuring words: ‘us too’. I was made to feel welcome immediately and got chatting to a lot of people on my first run in which we ran from Headingley, along Kirkstall Road and back. My legs ached for a while the following week but this didn’t stop me from returning the next week. We regularly do timed laps around Headingley Stadium so we can see how much we are improving.

 

8 weeks later and I’m still enjoying running and feel like I’ve improved a lot. My legs ache less afterwards and the sessions are varied each week so there’s no chance of getting bored.

 

I even attempted my first 5k a few weeks ago at the Run for Skye. I had walked the event in the past but thought, now I’m a member of a running club, I should probably give running the event a try. It was a bitterly cold, rainy day but the crowds were out in force for a good cause. The run involved two laps of a route around Middleton Park, including a tricky hilly section. I had no idea at the time if I was doing well; I was mainly just concentrating on trying to catch my breath in the cold air but, when I crossed the finish line, I was pleasantly surprised by my time of 28:20.

 

I’m looking forward to (hopefully) continuing to improve my time and especially looking forward to the weather improving which will make running in the evenings a lot more pleasant.

 

If you’ve had a long, stressful day at work, motivating yourself to go running is great therapy as it allows you to get out in the fresh air and forget about work for an hour or so. You’ll feel loads better afterwards.

 

If you’re thinking about joining a running group or club – I would definitely say give it a go!