GE Women Run – the start of my passion for running

You must be wondering if GE Women Run is round the corner. But no. In fact this is an overdued post that I have been meaning to blog about but thought it might be better to write it now to motivate those who have slacked in running or could not find time to exercise haha. Okok, excuses aside. Recently, I have been into run events and it really all started with GE Women Run that motivated me into running, and I would like to encourage more people to start a healthy lifestyle somewhere at some point in time.

I joined GE Women’s Run 2 years back in 2014. That was my first 5km run and I wasn’t sure back then if I was capable of running 5km. I practised for it with my morning 2km jog after I saw my girl up the school bus. I thought to myself, 5km was basically 2.5 times more than what I usually did and I should finish within 40 minutes at most. It should not be difficult. Indeed, 5km was categorized as a fun run and plus, I had awesome mum blogger friends to run together, I did make it at a leisurely pace!

For a newbie in running, it was important to enjoy the run rather than stressed over the run timing. I was a sportsgirl in my school days playing Netball in numerous inter-school competitions. I was the competitive type who had always wanted to outdo others. However, as age catches up, I learn to listen to my body. These days, I want to enjoy what I do. I was happy that Meiling who blogs at Universal Scribbles, jogged and walked along with me for my life’s first 5km run. We could even talk, take pictures, enjoy scenery on the 5km track. It was enjoyable and seriously, I never knew running with so many women can be so motivating. Some may be thinking why pay for runs when one can run free of charge anytime, anywhere. However, I would urge you to take part in just one run and you may get addicted like me and my friends.

Then last year, we had more mum bloggers who love running and took part in GE Women Run 2015 for the second time. I found the camaderie in us amazingly motivating. You know, at my age, we hardly know more friends, not to mention finding a group of friends who share the same interest. I think as busy mums, no matter if you are working or staying home, it is wonderful to find like-minded people to give one another encouragement. I would say the GE Women Run helped me find a new love and hobby in my otherwise busy life around kids and work. Hey! I have to start planning for the time when my life no longer revolves around the kids and when I have too much time on my hands to know what to do with, right? So, I believe being held as a Women’s Run, it also sends a strong message that we, as busy women, should learn to live our life to the fullest, live healthily and to Live Great!!

For this group of us, we have been looking out for runs on the running calendar. There is no pressure on whether we stick to same 5km run or increase to 10km or beyond. The idea is really to listen to your body and enjoy doing what you do. One of us, Angelia from Growing Hearts ran her first 5km in her record time. Since then, she went on to do her 10km together with Meiling, and may even consider half marathon soon. She is our inspiration. So there you see, we motivate each other in run practices, talk about tips and share running gadgets and all. Running is not so much as a competition against others but more to see how you reach new targets that you set for yourself.

This year, I may try to do 10km. Although I would prefer that they have 7km or something in between 5 and 10km. I would not dream of doing 21km ever in my life though. So I am contented with 5km or 10km in all my runs. It really doesn’t matter much to me as long as this keeps me going.

What I like about the GE Women Run is that we have interesting run clinics, wear tutu for a good cause and after run activities and things like Powder Room!!!

Prior to the run, we went for a 4km training run at Kallang. As women, I think we need friends to exercise together. We had pace setters in our training run! The organizers even held a health talk with us just before we started running. It was about nutrition and what we should be eating and drinking before our run. After that, we were treated to nutritious breakfast and healthy beverages.

My TuTu

See this… the men will never get this 😛

We are looking forward to the GE Women Run 2016 this year and I believe it will be one of our favourite run events every year. In between, we keep an eye on run events and motivate our children and spouses to take part in family runs too. I am loving running, or rather, these days, I am doing brisk walking too. I am glad my new found healthy lifestyle contributes towards family bonding and new found friendship with common interest that binds us together.

How about taking the first step towards exercising? Find a buddy to motivate each other, or be like us, join a run event for a good excuse to start a healthy lifestyle!