Finally managed to drag myself to the gym after work today, for a small experiment. The main purpose of the experiment being to see whether I could drag myself to the gym after work. So, success on that front at least. Actually, success on quite a number of fronts. I set the bar pretty low – well, no one wants to fall at the first hurdle. And having had a few hurdles to scramble over recently, I wasn’t expecting to be able to achieve a huge amount on the distance or speed fronts. In fact, I had pretty much resigned myself to going back to basics, and was aiming for a Couch25K style walk-run combo to wean myself back into things. Which was fine, since my main objective was to test my energy and motivation levels, and to see whether getting to the gym is even a possibility for me after a full day of work at the moment. However, as it turned out, I managed to run a fairly respectable distance without stopping. At a snail’s pace, but hey, one step at a time. Literally. 

For additional bonus points I attempted a few weights. Bonus points awarded! Along with a handy reminder that a number of gym machines offer an element of suspense, what with the whole ‘have I split my leggings doing that?’ and ‘will it look worse now if I bend over to examine my own crotch to check?’ type situation.

So, all good. In fact, I’m quite delighted by the whole experience. In particular, the discovery that an extremely full post-work gym is great motivation for running a bit further on the treadmill – on the basis that once you’ve secured a place on a machine, it just feels far too risky to get off it, in case you’re then left queueing for the next hour. Oh, and the discovery that there’s a new Rita Ora Adidas gym outfit that I really really need a reason to buy.

When it comes down to it, everything’s about perspective really, and balance. On the one hand, I ran 6K in the time I used to run 10K. On the other hand, I managed to run for as long as I used to, without stopping. I also managed to maintain a sense of balance. So, I didn’t push myself to do too much, and I didn’t fall over. Or split my leggings (at least I don’t think I did, I didn’t actually bend over to check). Although thinking about it, that would be one way to justify the new gym outfit.