{"id":28840,"date":"2021-08-27T10:11:58","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T09:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/?p=28840"},"modified":"2021-08-27T10:21:40","modified_gmt":"2021-08-27T09:21:40","slug":"inspirational-runners-leyla-this-day-i-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/2021\/08\/27\/inspirational-runners-leyla-this-day-i-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Inspirational Runners: Leyla This Day I Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Back in 2014 if someone had asked if I ran my reply would have been \u2018Only if something is chasing me, I am late or I am on fire\u2019. To put it simply, running just wasn\u2019t for me, I neither understood it or saw the point in it. I had little to no desire to ever run. Fast forward to today and I have completed 24 Ultras and marathons with the furthest I have ever run in one day of 65 miles. Life has come a long way in 7 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Inspirational<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Running Challenge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So What changed? You might ask. To put it simply a challenge. I am not one to turn down a challenge or a dare, I have a competitive nature you see, especially one which I feel I could do well. A challenge that at the end of ten months I could run ten miles. That sounded easy to me, so to up the game slightly I booked a half marathon in ten months time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It hit me on my very first run exactly how much I had underestimated this challenge. I just kept telling myself by the end of this month I will be able to run a mile. A mile a month that\u2019s all I had to do. I worked out the clothes I was wearing were too heavy, cotton t shirts are not great to run in. I bought new shoes. I showed up and I pushed myself until I got it. I ran a mile. I kept going. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t easy. I suffered injuries, illness and various other setbacks but this determination to complete this challenge kept me going. I started at Parkrun<\/a>, and became eager to get my 5km time under 30 mins. It did not come naturally to me, but I worked for it. My half marathon was looming now, nerves began to kick in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Inspirational<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I wasn\u2019t sure what to expect running my first half marathon. I was nervous, wondering if perhaps this was the challenge that would beat me. I had no idea about fueling strategies, not a clue about pacing and cross training was just another word. I will never forget the feeling when I hit 10 miles and realised I only had 3 to go, it felt like the longest three miles ever. I could hear the crowds and I knew I was getting closer to the finish. Until eventually it appeared, I had done it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Inspirational<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I look back at this photo and see just how far I have come, not only in terms of running but also as a person. Running has taught me so much. It has shown me what you can accomplish when you put your mind to it. It has allowed me to travel the world. I have run in various countries<\/a> and competed in some unbelievable races. It opened up the door to a whole community of supportive people, including my parkrun<\/a> family. One of my proudest moments was wearing the Run Director vest at parkrun for the first time<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Parkrun<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2015 I ran my first marathon whilst almost 20 weeks pregnant<\/a>. I took a year off in 2016 and in 2018 I decided to run 12 marathons\/ultras in 12 months. I raised \u00a32000 for Meningitis Research Foundation in doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"running<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

My passion and love for running continues to grow and I am growing both as a person and as a runner. I am now a qualified Leader in Running fitness, an assistant athletics coach and a guide running. Recently, I was so incredibly honoured to be appointed as the Running Mayor for Barnsley as part of Runsome. I am an ambassador for some fantastic running brands including, Worry Less design, Big bobble Hats and the National Running Show<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"National<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My children now have a keen interest in running. My eldest recently won Sportsperson of the year at her school, I could not have been prouder. Running has provided us with a common interest and I love how my children are now inspired to run too. Running is my freedom, my therapy and it gives me space to think. I am so grateful for that crazy challenge all those many years ago because who knows where I might be now without it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Inspirational<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inspirational Runner, and Running Mayor, Leyla This Day I Love, shares her story<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4699,4732,4561],"tags":[4469,4769],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/6.jpg?fit=800%2C1067&ssl=1","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/6.jpg?fit=800%2C1067&ssl=1",800,1067,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/6.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/6.jpg?fit=225%2C300&ssl=1",225,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/6.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&ssl=1",768,1024,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/6.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&ssl=1",768,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/6.jpg?fit=800%2C1067&ssl=1",800,1067,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/6.jpg?fit=800%2C1067&ssl=1",800,1067,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"pinkoddy","author_link":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/author\/pinkoddy\/"},"uagb_comment_info":1,"uagb_excerpt":"Inspirational Runner, and Running Mayor, Leyla This Day I Love, shares her story","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pepM9j-7va","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28840"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28840"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28882,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28840\/revisions\/28882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}