This Mum Runs Cardiff Social Running Group

May 15, 2019

As many of my readers know I ran the London Marathon this year. It was my first marathon and although I didn’t get the time I wanted, I absolutely loved every minute of it (aside from being sick at mile 16!).

 

I started properly getting into running back in 2017. Encouraged by a friend of mine I slowly managed to increase my distance and although it wasn’t easy, I can now say that I can comfortably run longer distances. I wouldn’t say I’m a natural runner, but I’ve worked hard at it and now that I have this level of fitness I want to maintain it.

Whilst training for the London Marathon I was running four times a week and going to two classes a week. Sunday was my only rest day. As you can imagine it was pretty time consuming.

Now that I’ve completed the London Marathon, life feels a bit strange. I don’t feel under any pressure to go out and run or to attend the classes I had been, although I do miss Barre class. Pump not so much!

However I do still want to continue running, and although the only running event I have booked in for the remainder of this year is a 5k Race for Life with my daughters, I want to make sure that I don’t slip back into old habits. With that in mind I recently decided to join This Mum Runs Cardiff group for one of their planned runs.

This Mum Runs was started by Mel Bound back in November 2014. She put a desperate shout out for a running buddy on Facebook and discovered that lots of mums felt the same as her in that finding the time to run is difficult.

From one Facebook post, 75 mums turned up to run with Mel. Hundreds came the following week and This Mum Runs was born.

The thing that I love the most about This Mum Runs is that anyone can join. Whether you’re 25 or 65, fast or slow, all shapes and sizes are welcome and most importantly with their looping system no-one is left behind.

The Cardiff This Mum Runs group run two runs a week. Wednesdays at 7.30pm and Sundays at 8am. I joined them for their Wednesday 7.30pm run at the Wild Gardens end of Roath Park last week. There were 28 women all ready to go.

We started off with a warm and then split up into three groups. One group would be running for 30 minutes (around 4k), one would be running for 45 minutes (around 6/7k) and the other group would be running for 60 minutes (around 8k).

I joined the 60 minute run. The Sunday after the London Marathon I managed to get out of the house for a 5k run so by Wednesday I quite fancied a longer run.

Runs are led by a Run Angel who is usually a local mum that’s received training from This Mum Runs in order to lead the run.

After warming up we set off at a fairly gentle pace. I was a bit nervous as I didn’t anyone in the 60 minute group, but thankfully when I arrived I saw the friendly face of a lady who did pump class at the same gym as me and also happens to have completed the London Marathon this year too!

Everyone in the group really friendly and as we ran I started to chat to a lovely lady who ran alongside me. I usually listen to music when I run, but as this is a social run I decided to leave my headphones at home and I have to be honest I didn’t miss them once. I chatted the whole way around which really made the time fly by.

This Mum Runs really is a wonderful way to encourage women to get out of the house, get some fresh air and exercise, but also to make new friends, and I can’t wait to go back again next week! I’m even considering finding out how I too can become a run leader.

Do you live in the Cardiff area and are interested in joining This Mum Runs? Let me know in the comments below. Do you run in a social group? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

2 Comments

  • Josie – Me, Them and the Others

    May 16, 2019 at 10:37 am

    This sounds like a great idea, although I think if I ran even half a mile I’d probably be sick!

  • Jenny | Midwife and Life

    May 21, 2019 at 10:11 am

    Such a great idea, it’s always better with friends. I can’t run at the moment but I used to love it. Keep it up!

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