Paul Fennessy

THERE HAS BEEN a pretty significant change to my workout routine in the past few days.

To mark the halfway point of the 12-week challenge, my trainer, Darren, checked in to see how I was doing.

He suggested pushing “a bit harder” with the finish line approaching and changing things up for variety and “a different stimulus”.

Cardio came into focus.

In addition to the daily workouts, I’ve been getting no shortage of steps in.

On the day in question, I had surpassed 19,000 and managed to exceed 10,000 on six of the seven days that week – the one exception falling just short at 9,394.

My workouts invariably finished with a 30-minute stepper, which is as simple as it sounds: stepping up and down on a machine for 30 minutes. It was eminently manageable but also a little tedious.

To increase the challenge, we agreed to replace the stepper with a 20-minute run at the end of three of the six workouts every week.

I also aimed for at least 15,000 steps a day when my schedule allowed, which was close to what I had been hitting on average anyway.

Lifting heavier weights as my body acquired proper muscle was an added goal.

But going back to running, it has been one of the many activities that have fallen by the wayside since leaving school.

In my early teenage years, I regularly did cross-country. It was by far the toughest sport mentally and physically, even though at various stages, I also regularly played soccer, rugby and tennis.

Being five days over the age limit meant I had to compete with the boys in the year ahead of me. That invariably meant running courses twice the size of what most of my peers were attempting.

I was a worrier and doubted whether I had trained enough for the race, but I always got over the finish line in the end.

One time, when I felt especially ill-prepared, I remember being secretly relieved when a big upcoming race was postponed following the early 2000s foot-and-mouth outbreak.

I performed okay, winning a Leinster medal as part of a team at one stage, but was never good enough to win races and show the potential to pursue the sport into adulthood at an elite level.

It was not for the faint-hearted, though. Every weekday, there was a bleep test at lunchtime, followed by a long, exhausting and equally unforgiving run after school.

A cross country race. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

There was no cross-country running at the weekend, but there was usually a game of soccer on Saturday morning, followed by a tennis session in the early afternoon.

I would typically spend the rest of the day wrecked, sprawled across the sofa, watching a Five/Six Nations game or whatever else was on TV that day.

Sundays would also sometimes involve an additional game of soccer – the indoor pitches in Loughlinstown were a favourite haunt for birthday parties.

They were fun times but also quite intense; I can vividly recall getting colds frequently that didn’t seem to go away, lasting for what felt like about three months, probably because I was always doing something outside in the freezing winters wearing shorts and a T-shirt.

Unfortunately, any discipline I had eroded when college started, and other not-quite-so-healthy activities took priority.

I’ve made sporadic attempts to get back into running in the 20 years since then, but time constraints and laziness meant there was no consistency.

Yet that has changed, at least for a week.

Related Reads

You might be surprised by the most difficult aspect of my 12-week fitness challenge

'I didn't like eggs a few weeks ago; now I eat them every day'

'After the first workout, my whole body was trembling, and I was close to vomiting'

Thankfully, the dread I once felt preparing for a run was not palpable.

Instead, I’ve actually appreciated the activity and realised I had missed aspects of it, although maybe those sentiments will change after six weeks of doing it repeatedly.

All the hours devoted to workouts and dieting in recent weeks meant adding a 20-minute run to this routine was not as taxing as expected.

I can confirm that the fabled ‘runner’s high’ – characterised by John Hopkins Medicine as “a short-lasting, deeply euphoric state following intense exercise” – is real. As is the sense of satisfaction from completing this extensive routine.

I may not be as sprightly or energetic as in my peak teenage years, but I can assure you the old post-exercise habit of sprawling across the sofa after a long day has remained.