I flipping love Shape Magazine's website. I mean the magazine itself is great but I'm not so big on buying magazines or subscribing because they're just too damn expensive and they end up half-read, dog-eared on a rack in my bathroom.
I, like many people I know, battle to stay motivated to exercise. There is nothing more soul-destroying than watching the 20mins count down on the treadmill while you jog, at the same pace, and stare, at the same wall...20mins of your life you'll never get back. Last year, after many failed gym contracts, I resorted to road-running. The last time I did road-running was for cross-country in Junior School, and I was that chubby red-faced kid who complained every few metres that she couldn't breathe. But I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Don't get me wrong, it was incredibly difficult in the beginning...I think on my first run I did 1km stopping every 50m gasping for breath and feeling like I might die. But after a few weeks of running 4 to 5 times a week, I was up to running 5 - 6 km with ease. And that felt liberating. 5km may not be a lot to all you hardcore exercise freaks but my little legs going continuously for 5km, is a big achievement.
I, like many people I know, battle to stay motivated to exercise. There is nothing more soul-destroying than watching the 20mins count down on the treadmill while you jog, at the same pace, and stare, at the same wall...20mins of your life you'll never get back. Last year, after many failed gym contracts, I resorted to road-running. The last time I did road-running was for cross-country in Junior School, and I was that chubby red-faced kid who complained every few metres that she couldn't breathe. But I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Don't get me wrong, it was incredibly difficult in the beginning...I think on my first run I did 1km stopping every 50m gasping for breath and feeling like I might die. But after a few weeks of running 4 to 5 times a week, I was up to running 5 - 6 km with ease. And that felt liberating. 5km may not be a lot to all you hardcore exercise freaks but my little legs going continuously for 5km, is a big achievement.
What I realised was what a mind game running is. It's all in your head. You can go a lot longer than you think you can if you just put your mind to it. I really enjoyed the challenge, and I really enjoyed being outdoors on a beautiful evening, running around the Rondebosch Common...it really was refreshing after a day in the office. BUT if you haven't noticed, I've been talking in the past tense this whole paragraph....
Winter arrived annnnnnd the awesome running regime went AWOL. Now, more than a year later, SHAPE Magazine is helping me get back into it (in WINTER, shock horror!). They have this awesome SHAPE Challenge on at the moment where they send you a running plan each friday. It should have you running up to 10km in 12 weeks. Sign up to take part here. Best of all, it's actually free. And for all you lazy sods, the first week is something like 3 minutes of running, 3 minutes of walking, so no excuses...that's really hardly exercising at all.
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