Far too comfortable being confined in the last year, I recognise there has been a detrimental effect on my body and mind. So, I have done what all sensible people do, I have invested in a gadget which will surely change my life! I bought a treadmill.   

I know that ‘outside’ inside the garage isn’t exactly throwing myself out there, but I thought I’d cut a corner and see if I could reset my motor with regular movement. Unpacking the treadmill, building it, and collapsing the packaging, was enough exercise for a month. 

Arming myself with all the ways I could think of has been key to not allowing avoidance to kick in. Some of these ways are a bit ridiculous (who needs lip balm to run? Who needs a Nordic crime drama on an iPad first thing in the morning to run?)  but they work for me. The Couch to 5K accompaniment brought me Sanjeev Kohli’s voice in my ear telling me when to walk, when to run. I made sure my run jacket was hung on a peg next to the treadmill as the garage is always freezing. I can’t reach the kettle until the run is done.  

I’m pleased to say I’ve stuck with a daily habit (one rest day a week) – I ‘run’ 3 times a week and I fast walk 3 times a week, 30 minutes each time. Sanjeev reminded me today that its not about anybody else, it’s about developing me at my pace, and if I need to repeat a run, then its ok. I didn’t expect to love it. I didn’t even expect to like it. I expected endurance and suffering.   

Despite my ex-partner telling me “remember what happened with the cross-trainer” (it sat in the shed for many years), I have refused to be put off. The cross-trainer attempt at staying fit was 17 years ago and I was trying to exercise with a 3 year old and 2 babies beside me. This time, I am more knowledgeable, more enthusiastic, more rested, better equipped, and I felt brilliant mental and physical benefits from the first ‘run’. Yes, I’m still inside the garage. But I don’t care, I’m moving, I’m sweating, and that is good enough. The best part is pretending I’m crossing the marathon finishing line each time. My kids are there screaming at me to finish and I’m winning! 

My message is this – keep changing things, however small, until something fits. It can be the lack of change which holds us mute. 

Love from

Shuffling along inside the garage 

A Moodscope member.