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Back in May this year (2023) I was asked if I would take part as a member of the fortitude team to run 10k for Beaverbrook’s charity fun run. At the time this would have been the furthest I’ve ever run and with me working 2 jobs, and training 5 days a week for Olympic lifting I would have very limited opportunity to train. So I started to run one day a week on a Sunday with the fortitude team that we since made a bit of a club out of.

When the day came, I ran with the team that we’re so helpful in getting me through the run and achieving a new PB. Needless to say I caught a bug for running and with great hesitation a few months later, agreed to set my next target of the Cheshire half marathon more than double my current distance record.

So with 21k in the sights for September 2023 I had only a couple of months left to train so had to make some big jumps in my training distance each week. But with the fortitude running team to help me along, and some good runs under our belt I felt quietly confident about the upcoming half.

The day came and we made our way down to Cheshire, I had previously set myself a target of between 2:15:00 and 2:30:00 but in a 20k run in training I got just under 2 hours 10 minutes for 20k so felt 2:15:00 was well within reach, setting off at the very back of the run we made a good start all together and made our way through the other runners around the track. Because of different levels of skill, we broke off from each other and began to run our own races.

I felt good throughout the run until the 18k mark and began to slow, this was the point where it became a mental game to try the achieve my target time. Pushing through the last 3k with the help of some Haribo’s and jelly babies I managed to pull out a sprint finish just under my target at 2:14:35, I was happy with my time and felt I ran a good race found the rest of the team and celebrated with 2 five guys burgers and a milk shake.

In running I’ve found it although when you get to race day you run your own race there was a massive sense of team building with everyone and has increased my fitness levels significantly, I would recommend taking part in a race day of any kind for people who enjoy running.

Check out Adam’s page for more. 
https://instagram.com/newy_health_fitness?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

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