At the end of 2024, I impulsively signed up for a race. The hype finally got me and, having found an alternative to things that involve running, I excitedly signed up for Nuclear Storm – a run-free version of Nuclear Fit, based in Essex.
The event took place on 19th July, and I spent the months beforehand tweaking my training to prepare. This should be easy for a personal trainer, right? Here’s what the process taught me…
I’m not competitive
I actually learned this a few years ago, and inconveniently forgot. Back when I was running, at the beginning of my fitness journey, I did a number of 5km races and two 10kms before getting injured and stopping altogether. I recognised that running wasn’t for me. And nor is competition.
It doesn’t excite me to try and beat other people. Partly because I don’t believe that I can. I’m far from the strongest person on the planet, I hate pushing myself to improve within a certain timeframe, and I just prefer doing my own thing.
Fitness is about me and my body, not how it compares to others. On that note…
I don’t hate training with others
I’ve always resisted classes. Once I got into the gym and felt like I knew what I was doing (or had a plan to follow), I was really comfortable training alone. I like that nobody talks to me, I enjoy there being no pressure to chat, and it being time to myself.
Because I signed up for the doubles race, I trained regularly with my race partner, and I found myself enjoying it. We’re not strangers, and have trained together a fair bit in the past, albeit not for a while when we signed up for the event. It was good to be alongside someone who had the same aim, who pushes me, and for us to take it in turns to plan the sessions.
Trying new exercises won’t kill me
I’m one of the guiltiest people for getting stuck in my own rut. My excuse is that I use my creativity on my clients, to prevent them from getting bored. As a result, my own training can look pretty samey. Part of it is also that I like to really perfect and get comfortable with an exercise, and that takes time.
Programme-hopping (changing your workout every single session) also isn’t healthy – consistency is how you see progress – but there’s a balance to be struck, and I’m going to aim to find that.
Training for events really does take time
I signed up for something that felt achievable. A lot of the Nuclear Fit stations are things that are similar to what I do in my normal workouts. When I signed up, I knew that I had a busy year ahead, and so something that was important to me was that the fitness competition couldn’t take over my life – I didn’t have space for it.
Anyone who’s run a marathon will – justifiably – tell you that it takes over; a big part of the training is going for regular long runs, and that can’t help but take time. Which I didn’t have a surplus of.
I thought I’d found something that would fit in to my usual routine and, to an extent, I had. But I haven’t had the time to dedicate to it to ensure that I hit a higher standard and really use it as a chance to improve and get significantly fitter. Which is fine. But also a little frustrating.
There’s room for me to work on accepting myself
My fitness identity is something that I’ve thought about a lot since taking up training, and since becoming a personal trainer. It’s evolved a few times, partly due to gaining experience, and I think another evolution is coming.
I don’t know how long the next identity will last – I’m at the tail end of my 30s, so I’m reluctant to commit to an idea without knowing how perimenopause will impact me when it inevitably arrives in my 40s – but I do know that I need to come to terms with competition not being for me, and the fact that I’m not really interested in lifting heavier and heavier anymore.
Is it time to pick up some new tricks? Probably. Time to figure out the next step…