Health and Fitness

ReVo F.I.N.E. Leaders: Kaliko, Halo and Russ

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Welcome to a new feature from REVO FINE. Myself, Kaliko and Halo will be bringing you our takes on FINE… it could be exercise, positive thinking or healthy eating. Who knows, but what we do know is we want to hear from you!. So if you have things you want to hear or questions to ask, hit us up!

“I’ll tell you one thing I won’t be one of those people who run a Marathon.” – Russ, a long time ago.

I never used to like running. I downright hated it in fact. Cycling, I’ve always loved cycling. Running I never got. It seemed a miserable experience for me. But time changes things… ok let’s be honest, the reason I started running. Was to piss someone off. Admittedly not the best reason to do something, but stick with me here.

It was about 2 years ago, I’d been cycling a lot. So my fitness was better than it had ever been, and I felt strong. But I was seeking a new challenge. I like to push myself and test myself. And also I’d plateaued on weight loss. So a friend told me I should try running. So that arvo I went out and did 5km and felt like death, it sucked. But there was something there… that made me go back. After a few weeks I was up to 10km. That’s when I mentioned a half might be fun to do. And my friend told me I wasn’t at a level of a half and I’d not do one before him.

Now I work best with a chip on my shoulder. If someone tells me I can’t do something… I’m going to do it. I have comments people tell me about me burned into my brain. They drive me on. I’m not saying this is healthy but it’s just how I work. And slowly I was learning running was a good outlet for this. I used it to drive me on. Running is as much mental as physical. Honestly you’re brain will quit before your legs will. So I  signed up to a half… in 3 weeks.

Now firstly DO NOT DO THAT. I was clueless and had no idea what I was doing and it’s only through being stubborn I did. Now I train like a madman to do a half.

So on the day I was flying round and loving it. I was able to put so much into that run and push myself and I go it. I got what was good about running. The headspace, just you and watching the world go by. But Unsurprisingly I hit 10 miles and the last three I struggled. My brain wanted to quit so bad, but I ignored it. The last few miles were me v my brain, and more the self-doubt. “you can’t do this you aren’t a runner….” “you are dumb you won’t make it.” And you have to fire back “funny I’m running now…” “What if I do make it.” The last mile was so slow and I did it.

And to me that’s exercise, I didn’t run fast, I did nothing special but I pushed my limits. I now know and have learnt on other occasions that I don’t quit easily. And that lends itself to all walks of life. The benefits of exercise carry into so much.

And you don’t have to go far to do it. A 5km run is an amazing achievement, walking a mile is a good goal. Yoga, tennis, whatever you want just go try it. And just go a little further than your brain wants you to. I promise it’s worth it.  Just starting small led me to being on the cusp of Marathon 3.