10/09/2025
Back in school, I hated running.
The annual cross-country was my worst nightmare - muddy, cold, and miserable. And it was mandatory. The whole school had to do it. Running round Bushy Park near Hampton Court, which is a lovely place to be fair - just not on a wet Wednesday afternoon in February, after school hours when I'd rather be at home, indoors in the warm, playing with my Lego, thank you very much.
I can remember one year, right at the beginning, I ended up in a boggy stream that I was meant to leap over, but somehow didn't. And one trainer remained stubbornly in the bog, after my foot had left it! An adult had to help me find it, put it back on my foot and then I ran the rest of the cross-country with wet feet. Yuk.
Anyway, you get the picture. I bloody hated it!
So if you'd told me then that several decades later, not only would I run the London Marathon, I'd actually enjoy it, I would have laughed in your face and thought you were mad.
But that's exactly what happened. I'm not sure I "enjoyed" the last 5km - "endured" is definitely a more accurate description - but I loved the whole experience - and the massive sense of achievement that came from finishing it.
I loved it so much that two years later, I ran the Paris Marathon! And I'd have run Barcelona had it not been cancelled at the last minute, when the global pandemic hit and we were all locked down.
But how did this epic transformation happen?
Not by suddenly becoming a “natural runner.” Of course not. But by taking it one step at a time, building confidence bit by bit...and having the right support along the way.
I started in my early 40's when the first signs of middle age spread began to show - in order to get fit. At that stage, I don't think I could even run to catch a bus, without being short of breath. So it was round the block for 1km max to start with.
Slowly but surely, I increased my distance. 5km, 8km, 10km. Then I started running events. Then I entered the Surrey half-marathon - twice. So eventually it became just a natural progression to run a full 26 miles. (Plus Clive, my brother-in-law who'd matched my journey step-by-step until then, had done the London Marathon the year before, I couldn't let that be the status quo for long!)
But anything worth doing is like that isn't it? It's a gradual progression as you gain confidence, strength, resilience and ability.
Above all there's a realisation that we are all much more capable - and have much more capacity - than we think we do. And it's only when we move out of our comfort zones that we experience that kind of growth!
And it's a virtuous circle. The more you do, the more you believe you can do, the more you do etc....
So - if you've been following my posts lately, you might have noticed that Bex and I are running a Challenge this week. (It's going really well, btw!)
And next Monday we're running a FREE hour long Masterclass LIVE on Zoom!
Because gaining the confidence to run your own website and write content with clarity and consistency requires a similar type of transformation I experienced - from the kid who hated cross-country to the adult who runs marathons...and enjoys them.
At the start, it feels overwhelming. The jargon, the tech, the sheer "where do I even begin?" of it all. But you don’t need to know everything or do it perfectly from day one. You just need the right roadmap - and a community that helps you keep going.
Bex & I are giving you - for FREE - a framework that allows you to take the first steps on that journey!
Our OWN IT Masterclass this Monday is designed especially for time-poor, tech-shy solo business owners who want to take back clarity, confidence and control over their websites and content without overwhelm.
Come and join us: the link is in the first comment!
One step at a time, you can get there. You can OWN IT!
