Winning Isn’t Everything

Whenever I go for a run, I always pretend to be an athlete (Allyson Felix) competing in the Olympics. Every run has to be fast and I always try to beat my previous running time. I never go for leisurely jogs and because of this, I miss out on some of the beautiful things that come with running.

I love running as the sun rises, but I would never actually stop mid run to watch the sun as it wakes up London. I always take the scenic route, but I don’t have time to admire the view. I run to win, but a recent run with Nike has made me realise that there is so much more to running than winning.

Nike hosted a Run x Brunch at the ACE Hotel in Shoreditch on a drizzly Saturday morning. I was hoping to run a fast time, but after we set off it quickly became apparent that this wasn’t going to be a record breaking run because the streets of East London were busy.

I ran with my Run LDN Ladies team mates Natasha and AJ and this was the first time that we had laced up our trainers and ran together.

I usually run on my own and I enjoy running on my own, but I didn’t realise just how lonely my runs were until I ran with AJ and Natasha. As we ran, we spoke about our dreams and aspirations and what we would like to happen next. Our paths may be similar but our journey’s are different. I love hearing about all of the wonderful things that the girls have been up to and I enjoy sharing my achievements with them too.

I didn’t mind that I wasn’t running at my usual pace because I was enjoying being in the company of my friends as I explored the streets of London.

After we finished running, we went back to the Ace Hotel for a yoga session followed by brunch. Yoga is always a bit of a challenge for me because like most runners, stretching isn’t something that I do often. Our instructor took us through a quick flow sequence and after we finished, we took copious amounts of pictures on the rooftop before we went our separate ways.

Running is such a beautiful experience and I want to discover more of the world on foot, which is why my friend Rachel and I will be starting our very own Run Adventure! We are in love with running and together we will run some of the most famous and beautiful routes that the world has to offer. We have very similar running times and I am excited to see where our feet will take us and I will be documenting all of our runs on my blog.

Team Run LDN Ladies will be running with the Nike+ Running club this Tuesday at Nike Town, 6pm. Come and join us! You will feel better for it.