I have a confession to make… I’m totally addicted to running.

Now, it’s not like I’m new to exercise, over the past years I have enjoyed Zumba, cycling, swimming, aqua fitness classes, lots of walking… but none of these elicited the amazing feeling that running gives me.

I can run (trudge) wearily home (it’s debateable whether you could call it running at this point) following a hot, tiring run but within minutes of sitting down all exhaustion is forgotten and replaced with a “wow, wasn’t that a great run” feeling, it’s a buzz and it’s something that makes me want to get out day after day. Something that makes me want to go running above any other activity, that can get me out of bed in the (early) mornings and can leave me pacing the house waiting for the torrential rain to clear.

Something that can square up to the negative thoughts of depression and make them turn away. Something that keeps my emotions balanced on the happy side of the scales.

Alongside all of that, there’s also the sense of achievement. Whether it’s getting a new PB, running a new route, making it all the way up that hill, going further or faster, reaching a new cumulative distance, or simply getting out there and doing it. There is always an achievement in running.

This week I have achieved a new longest run distance of 11.3km (7 miles) and for the first time I have run more than 30km in one week (30.4km, which is just short of 19 miles).

Month to date I have completed 11 runs, totalling almost 70km, which is more than 43 miles(!).

Would you believe that only five months ago I was NEVER going to try running, it was not my thing and I had no thought that it ever would be.

Over the past five months (150 days!) I have done 70 runs, with an all-time distance of 340km, which now has me wondering whether I can reach 1,000 by year end!