The third instalment of the blog by our Race Ambassador for Brooksie’s Bash
With this year's race fast approaching, Amaris has put pen to paper again for the third part of her blog, which you can read below.
Since the last edition her race schedule has continued to be action packed. As well as taking part in the Liverpool Rock and Roll Marathon and the Black Country Half Marathon, she was out helping others by acting as a pacer at the Ramathon in Derby on 4th June.
The Liverpool and Black Country races are part of a year long challenge she's set herself, called the '13 in 52 for the 1 in 4'. Through this she'll be raising funds for Derbyshire Mind and continuing to promote the benefits that running has to mental health. Please take a moment to visit her Facebook page HERE and her donation page HERE.
Learning to live
Running is a metaphor for life; one foot in front of the other. Repeat. Never give up. At least for me it is. This is what makes every run bigger than a PB. Don't get me wrong, personal best times are a great achievement but with a capacity to flail myself over every little mishap, I'm forced to dig a little deeper in order to survive.
Moving forwards whilst still looking back – remembering where I've come from; measuring the start line. It's about gratitude, empathy, and enjoyment.
Speaking for myself, I was never 'born to run' but we're ALL born to live, so why not have a go at that thing we never thought we could do. One foot in front of the other, repeat; if you run, you're a runner. If you're alive, you live. Simple, right!
Very over-simplistic! to my own experience it is anyway. If only my brain was wired that way – the amount of times I've let the pressure of a goal prevent me from achieving it. For me, this speaks for running as well as for life. That is why running represents a blueprint for living in the world and the grapevine tells me that I'm not the only one.
That thing I always thought I could never do was life; trying to recover from this toxic head space was where running found me and then it saved me. I no longer speak as a victim but it's true that mental health can be as life limiting as being alive whilst feeling dead.
I was gifted with the knowledge that whilst I'm breathing there's more right with me than wrong with me. Regardless of what had happened to me that message proved to be a perfect starting platform for my journey into the unknown. It was never about what had happened, it's about how we cope, so with a network of hope and like minds, anything is possible. ANYTHING.
Many miles of uncharted ground, tripping up in the fear of not being good enough. What if I'm not 'fast / clever / smart / hard-working / confident / happy / pretty / good' enough to be a valid person?
What if that internal, invisible question even made any actual sense?
What if I can't do it?... then nothing is lost, but what if I can?!