No one was more surprised than me when I took up running a few months after baby number 2 was born. I was never…sporty, and spent many a P.E. lesson at school hiding in the loos. Don’t get me wrong, I have the co-ordination of a constipated in-bred labradoodle and will never break any speed records – I’m not a PROPER runner. But I’ve loved the personal satisfaction that has come from running half marathons, and *really* enjoyed the personal satisfaction of swigging wine from a drink bottle post-run in a hotel hot pool with a girlfriend on a running trip we did together. This year, I set myself the lofty goal of running a full marathon. Then life got in the way and I haven’t run for months and months because I’ve been full of excuses: “I’m tired because the kids have been up coughing all night, my running top smells funny, I’m getting used to my new job, the weather is shit, there’s just no time, does my thyroid look especially large to you – maybe I shouldn’t strain myself?  it’s too dark, I think I’m getting sick, the extra kilos are keeping me warm this winter, sporty people are dicks” etc. And then it came to pass that my favourite jeans needed a lot of encouragement to go all the way up, my #workwife started talking about her morning walks and Powerhoop in jaunty tones, and one of my best friends gently tabled the notion that if we’re to go on a drinking-wine-in-hot-pools trip marathon trip next year then we’re going to have to start building up to those 42.2kms now. So I decided today was going to be my #NoExcuses launch-pad day. I had the day off work and my running top smelled just fine, so I chucked on my shoes and showed my 6-year old how to use the boomerang function on my phone to record my “I WILL do this!” moment (which you can see here on my Facebook). Marathon goal is back on the agenda, a new playlist is underway, and I’ve already steeled myself for the inevitable, “Mummy, why did they give you a medal if you didn’t even win, isn’t that a bit unfair to the person who actually won?” line of questioning that follows each event I finish. #NoExcuses #ProbablyWillHaveExcusesTomorrow

Is anyone else working on a personal goal (fitness or otherwise)? How do you stay on track?