RED January 2020 - day 2

RED January 2020 day 2 - starting afresh - second consecutive year of RED January

It was a long time ago now that I started running and that was walking and running around a local park until I felt that I could run constantly for longer and longer periods... and that is where I am today, learning to run again. I know how to run continuously as my mind and body retain the memory and can mimic how I used to run happily for some time, but because I am unfit and untrained it would not take many runs before I become broken in some way. So I am telling myself I am a beginner and starting at the beginning - where any good run should start. I am over the phase of being frustrated that I can't go out and run a 10k with relative comfort two or three times a week, and I have made peace with the fact that I weigh too much for my body to cope with running how I would like to.

@REDJanuaryUK 2020 is a fundraiser for MIND, the Mental Health Charity please do support them if you can. The link below take you to my fundraising page...

So this #REDJanuary is all about the process of (re)learning and enjoying the idea of being a new runner. I will walk a lot, I will simply stop if I need to, I will though keep going gradually and patiently. Too many Januarys have shown me that charging at the target like a crazed cartoon bull will only lead to me missing the red cape completely and flying into the anvil hidden behind. My goal is to do what I did years ago and just go out and learn and build incrementally. I have races bought and paid for, but I will simply go and have fun - and carefully forget that I have ever been a runner before.

Happy January peeps, take those resolutions slow and steady, and by next January you will be relieved at not having to make the same resolution again.  This text was first posted on my Strava feed "Andrew Hollins" (by me; with the details of my run session - of course), and then on my Instagram feed "andy_hollins" (with a picture - of course).