City Slacker to Trail Seeker

For many years, I believed in the cliché ‘you can take the girl out of the city, you can’t take the city out of the girl’. This was unfortunately true until about 3 years ago. Get wet? Get muddy? Get outdoors? You have to be kidding me. So how did I go from a city slacker to a trail seeker? What happened ? What changed?

It began with a vague idea of wanting to get out of the daily grind and get healthier.  I had  no idea what ‘healthier’ meant. Vaguely in my mind, it meant not sitting around watching TV. It meant giving up cigarettes, a habit which was getting quite expensive.  It meant doing some form of exercise. Not blessed with the best of eye and body coordination,  jogging I thought would be the easiest to do. 

So my journey into the world of running began. I thought how difficult can it be, one foot in front of another. No need for gym fees. No need to face the embarrassment of being in a room full of fitter bodies. Easy it was not. I remember the breathlessness just jogging down the street where I live. I remember feeling as if my heart was just going to burst out of my chest and it was most torturous to say the least.

Somehow, for reasons I cannot explain, I kept at it.  I believed joining a local parkrun and later a local running club gave me the motivation and inspiration to want to get better. Slowly but surely I did get better. Running is still not easy, just a little easier each day.

For a while, I pounded pavements. Wandering each time further and further away from home because I am privileged to have a great city to run around in - Cardiff, a city that seems to be made for runners. The city is  flat with beautiful parks and waterfront so one has the freedom to roam and feel safe.  But for me each morning, making my way through the city and being part of the city as she wakes, are quite special moments of my day.  These early morning jaunts give me a window in the day to observe and experience things that most of us take for granted.  I can hear the dawn chorus of birds and I see the people who keep the city clean when most  are all still tucked up in bed.  I pass delivery trucks unloading supplies to our shops and see the people coming off night shifts to make their way home wrapped up in their own tired thoughts.

However, the real discovery came when I attempted my first multi-terrain race. That 6 mile race changed my perspective of running and subsequently sowed the seed for other things to come.  In this race, I remember struggling up a long climb on a narrow country lane and as I got to the top, the view of just hills and blue skies took my breath away.  The race continued off -road toward the hills over muddy marshland. There were sheep grazing along the route. Gentle autumnal breeze in the air. The hush, just hearing my own breathing as I picked my way down the hill felt strangely calming. My daily concerns seemed a world a way. I was surrounding by so much beauty. I was alive. This experience gave me a taste of what it feels like to run in nature. After that race, I look forward to opportunities whenever I can to go off and explore new trails. 

From a runner’s perspective, I believe running is quite a personal journey. Some like me started as a way to get fitter and then develop a sense of competitiveness and go on to set personal challenges in races.  Some people just run because they have always done so as a child and kept at it as part of who they are.  Running for me has helped me test my boundaries, physically, mentally and has opened up a whole new world for me.  It has helped me discover the simple pleasures of being outdoor. There is a sense of liberation to just lace up my trainers, pack a snack and off I go. The only limitation is how far I can physically go before I tire.

It is in my wanders that I discovered the many wonderful woodland trails, coasts and hills that I had taken so much for granted. All free. All there regardless of the season. It made me realise how fortunate I am to have all this nature around me. It made me want to encourage others to go out there and enjoy it. To love it and to inspire others to do the same.  So all because of a pair of trainers all those months ago, I have become a trail seeker and I hope there will be others like me, who will discover the wonderful experiences that running can bring.  Whatever your motivation is, get out there. Give it a go. You might find something you like. I promise you, there is a journey of discovery of who you are, what is important to you and what you can be waiting for you, should you want it. 

It really is quite simple. There is a world out there waiting. 

A Small Slice of Life

In recent months,  there was quite a bit of de-cluttering, filing and most importantly preparing myself to leave behind systems and processes so that someone else can take over and take the work forward. My tenure, my time after 7 and half years of service has come to an end.  As the company is being wound up and as services we offered are taken in some form into the local authority, I decided it was an opportune time to take a leap of faith and see what lies ahead. It was not an easy decision to make, for I knew I was starting over in uncertain economic times. Being older,  being a generalist and not a specialist in any field and being foreign despite having lived in Wales for about 11 years, and having been employed and inherited a role that did not stand me in good stead for career advancement, I  already have quite a few obstacles stacked  up against me.  Then if everything else goes horribly wrong, there is the risk of being unemployed, homeless and quite alone.  

However, as I pondered about my decision,  the one thought that kept coming back to me was ‘What does being employed means to me?’ . In essence, what  and how is the significance of what I do for a living fit into my life.  You would have thought, such a question should have been something I had thought long and hard about all those many years ago.  Unfortunately, this question never crossed my mind.  I left college with a Diploma, worked and was very fortunate to have always had a passion and love for what I did. Everything else was just a progression and consequences of decisions I made along the way.

As life would have had it, in all that time I inevitably succumbed to and subscribed to the notion that a
successful career and all the aspirations that came with that was something to strive for.  It became a default by which I measured my personal achievements. It became a default by which I felt I could be recognised, acknowledged and validated.  Then something happened to me in the last few years that slowly began to change my perspectives. Something caused me to shift my attitude and thinking.  

I am not quite sure I can attribute this change to a particular person, situation or anything specific. Although I can say that by making a conscious effort to engage in activities that make me feel mentally and physically better, has helped me achieve a sense of clarity in decisions I needed to make. It has also helped me cultivate better relationships and friendships with people and I am kinder too, to myself. Cliché as it may sound, but by being a little bit more upbeat about things, means I am able to engage with others who feel the same way and in the process I am perhaps, more opened to new ways of thinking about things. I am able to ditch old worn out attitudes and embrace new possibilities that I wouldn’t have even thought of.

So when I decided to risk unemployment about a month or so ago, I was concerned but I at the same time, I felt a sense of liberation and excitement. For me it also meant, I could explore opportunities that will resonate with me as an individual. Something that would appeal to me without all the bells and whistles.  I was pleasantly surprised that how making that small change in attitude, means I can look beyond the usual 9 to 5 job. I can look beyond full-time employment and beyond the usual sectors.  

After a much thought, soul searching  and some luck, I believe, I have finally found and being given the opportunity to achieve that balance of working and re-training in a sector that I will enjoy. This new part-time role also allows me the flexibility to explore additional possibilities. Now,  I am just awaiting contract and looking forward to a new life that will start in a week’s time. 

Perhaps this is a small step towards a long term vision of living in a cottage or a little house with some garden and a dog, near a countryside. Living and working more outdoors. 

As a trail runner wannabe , you have to say… THAT long term vision if it happens will be a dream come true!