Today is my Runniversary. Eight years ago today I put on my (badly fitting) trainers and went to the gym. To say I never looked back would be a lie. There were plenty of times in those first months when I wanted to quit. But the difference between this and all the other times I’d decided to start running was that I didn’t throw in the towel when it got hard.

I know that today is the day because I still have my notebook that I recorded every tiny victory for those first few months, no run too small, no pain too insignificant to escape recording. That first 1.14K run took me 10 minutes. It was slow, it was hard but it was the first step.

It’s far too easy to compare yourself to other people and feel down about your achievements. I like to compare myself to where I was eight years ago. It’s been one hell of a journey and I can’t quite believe it’s been eight years already.

Tonight I’ll be celebrating the best way I know how, by welcoming a new group of runners at week one of my 0-5k course. It feels quite fitting, and although a lot of them won’t believe me when I say that they’re capable of doing whatever they want – be that running their first marathon (flashback to mine in 2010) or an ultra (last year in Paris), I mean it because I was where they are once.

If you want to hear my story from the beginning, I’d recommend reading my book ‘The Lazy Runner‘. And if you want to work towards your first 5k, I’ve got an e-guide for that.