Arts and crafts blogger Kate Williams from Crafts on Sea, shares her review of one of our fitness favourites, Runner's World magazine. Be inspired by her journey and how the magazine motivated her to jump back into her trainers and start chasing her passion again.
If you’ve ever read Harry Potter then you’ll know that some books have magical powers, they might talk back to you or try to bite you. I like to think that Runner’s World magazine is a bit like that, it might look inoculate enough sat by the side of your sofa but pick it up and you find that there’s magic too, it won’t bite but it might still get you running away.
Truth be told, I am somewhere between an ex-runner and a runner. I was always that girl in PE with a sick note (handwritten of course), however, I took up running ten years ago and much to the shock of everyone who knew me, seemed to stick with it and as a result, ran 5k’s then 10k’s, half marathons and a marathon in Amsterdam. I was what I like to think of as a realistic runner, never fast but enjoying it anyway. I helped start a running club from the local food bank where we trained people to run 5k but also, would sometimes just take them out for an ice cream instead. Then I had kids and the running stopped - with three to four hours of sleep a night, a four-hour training run was not going to happen.
Four years later my youngest was born and I’m still carrying most (ok, all) of my baby weight, but recently something has changed for me. I’ve done those well-known diets where, hurray, you too can lose the weight by just eating certain branded yoghurts and obsessing about food all day. However, like almost every single person I know, the weight comes back on and so, it’s been back to the only thing I really knew, running. Not wanting to run, not fancying running in the slightest, but knowing I had to. Not even for the weight anymore but just to stay healthier and happier.
Runner’s World magazine forced me out the door. I read a few pages and it made running sound so good and positive that it forced me back into it. Since I stopped running a few things have changed, I now have Strava on my phone for motivation and I aim for a couple of miles rather than 20, but it’s still the same thing really, put on some trainers and get out there.
In the last couple of years, we moved to North Cornwall and the beauty of the area makes me try and create my own Rave Runs. I have always looked at it in the magazine, while slowly plodding along the coastal path to look out at the sea or taking a break from the hills with a chilled run down the (flat, hurray!) canal with hardly a person to be seen. I now count my runs by how many animals I’ve seen as much as my millage - looking out for mallards, swans and sheep.
Runner’s World magazine will give you all the information you need to know about training plans, stretching, runs to try and the best shoes to buy. But more than that, it will remind you that this is something you want to do, something worth putting your trainers back on for day after day. It does not matter if your goal is a marathon or to the end of the road, sometimes that’s exactly the magic you need.
