Two Four-Letter Words That Make a Huge difference!

'Just’ and ‘Only’

As some of you know – we’ve been putting up challenges on the Fuelled By Fun facebook group to collectively cycle, run or walk around islands and across the sea.

Adding up everyone’s mileage each week as a ‘team’ we have travelled – virtually – around mainland UK and Ireland and have crossed the Atlantic from Newquay to New York. Encouraging a real mix of people from hard core ironmen to first timers on bikes or newbie runners.

But one thing stood out, that I really feel I wanted to write (and have a little rant) about - people’s use of the words ‘just’ or ‘only’. Making their achievements seem unimportant, irrelevant or not much effort!

Getting out of the front door in the first place is a massive achievement for quite a lot of people. Some of the phrases I've seen when collecting miles of everyone... “Only 5 miles…”, “Just 8 miles…”. Twelve months ago I’d have laughed at you if you told me I’d be able to run or walk 5 miles and as for cycling – well, I used to think cycling was the work of the devil!!

I’m just asking that we all try and change our language – less of the four-letter words (I mean ‘just’ and ‘only’!)

Celebrate  your achievements – whether that’s 1 mile or 100 miles – celebrate the fact you did it, your body was strong enough to do that, you were mentally prepared to get out of the door and go for it.

And make sure you have fun :)

Fuelled By Fun - September Challenge Week 3

The challenge was set back at the beginning of September - members of the Fuelled By Fun Facebook group joined in the Run/Walk Challenge which was to (virtually) run/walk from Newquay to New York!

Collectively we gathered the mileage - whether it was the walk to work, a run/walk or jog around the block.

On week 1 we collected an amazing 1159.43 miles. Week 2 showed no let up for the amount of miles everyone ran and walked. We collected 1332.42 miles of run/walk miles from the fuelled by fun community. An absolutely amazing effort from everyone.

Week 3 proved no less spectacular, making it all the way to NYC we collected 1143.67 miles, which means we made it over to NYC with a week to spare (and some!!)

Now the next challenge is the October virtual triathlon - medals n' goodies! You can join in the virtual triathlon here

If you fancy joining in the fun, join us on Facebook.

Take baby steps and just get moving!

Fresh starts don’t have to be a Monday or January!! I always think that September feels like a fresh start – new pens, new books and new school uniforms!

But we don’t need ‘fresh’ starts – we just need to start! And to start with baby steps!

Small steps are much easier to take, much less daunting and can help to get you going without feeling overwhelmed. A perfect example, is the bike challenge, which started back in July. The challenge was to see if we could collectively cycle around the UK mainland and Ireland. We had no idea how long it would take, or even if we would manage it – as it’s nearly 7000 miles.

Participants gave us a weekly tally of the number of miles they had cycled each week. To our amazement it only took 6 weeks to get all the way around mainland UK and Ireland.

We just asked people to take baby steps, we had ironman triathletes taking part right through to people who had to dig out their bike from the back of the shed and actually get cycling for the first time in years. Then there were those like myself who hated cycling, but had a go and ended up absolutely loving it!! Everyone was contributing – anything from 100 miles to 1 mile.

The point is that people started – they had a go. There was no set mileage that was unrealistic for some and too small for others, it was all about what people could manage.

That’s what Fuelled By Fun is about - getting moving and having fun while you do it. Don’t push yourself so much that you end up hating it. I used to do that! I would decide that I wanted to start running to get fit so I would go out too fast and too far and end up feeling like my throat had been cut and my lungs had burst - not much fun at all!

Start taking baby steps – it doesn’t have to be 10k’s, half marathons, triathlons (although it can be if you want!) – it’s just about getting moving.

Check out the virtual triathlon we have for October and start taking baby steps (and get a bit of bling at the end of October too!)

Fuelled By Fun - September Challenge Week 2

The challenge has been set - members of the Fuelled By Fun Facebook group have joined in the September Run/Walk Challenge which is to (virtually) run/walk from Newquay to New York!

Collectively we're gathering the mileage - whether it's the walk to work, a run/walk or jog around the block

On week 1 we collected a fantastic 1159.43 miles. Week 2 has shown no let up for the amount of miles everyone has ran and walked. We collected 1332.42 miles of run/walk miles from the fuelled by fun community. An absolutely amazing effort from everyone.

If you fancy joining in the fun, join us on Facebook.

Life at the back of the pack!

Have you ever been out running with a group and always seem to find yourself at the back, gasping for air whilst desperately trying to make your legs go faster so you can keep up??? 

Yup me too!!  


Setting off on a group run is great, but a mile or so in, when you're losing sight of your fellow runners as they disappear into the distance... not so great! 

The first thing that takes over your mind is the “why the hell am I doing this”?? Quickly followed by “the OMG I’m hating every minute of it” to the “when will this be all over so I can go home and cry”?? Then there’s the hope!!!!! You spot that your fellow runners have stopped to wait for you... brill a rest at last. Nope as soon as you catch them up then they’re off again 😩 at this point you're red faced, out of breath, have sweat dripping into your eyes and in need of an oxygen cylinder, not only has every ounce of confidence you had disappeared, it has actually destroyed your soul. It’s nobody’s intentions or fault that you feel this way, they're just doing their thing as they should do, and I know if they did know how you felt they would be horrified at the thought... but the fact is life at the back of the pack is hard work!

Fast forward 12 months>>>>>>

Life at the back of the pack now is where I love to be... gone are the feelings of "I’m not good enough", gone are the stresses of trying to keep up... gone has the feeling of it wanting it to be over along with the fear of failure 😁 

Instead they’ve been replaced with, I can do this, I am me and I run at my own 'no pressure' pace, I chat to people and find out about them and their lives. I take in my surroundings and appreciate what’s on our doorstep, I stop for silly photos, and wild wee’s and the only time I cry is with laughter... 

So what’s changed??? 

Me I’ve changed... I no longer focus on my finish times but the finish lines! I no longer focus on how slow I run, just on how much fun I can have along the way, everything and everyone else is the same... It’s just my outlook that has changed and thank goodness it has as it’s brought back my love for running 😊 

What is it they say a “mile is a mile no matter how long it takes you to run it “and it’s so true 😄 

I can officially say I am Fuelled By Fun and now loving every single run 😊 
Nic K 

Fuelled by Fun - September Challenge Week 1

The challenge has been set - members of the Fuelled By Fun Facebook group have joined in the September Run/Walk Challenge which is to (virtually) run/walk from Newquay to New York!

Collectively we're gathering the mileage - whether it's the walk to work, a run/walk or jog around the block

The miles are collated each week and so far on week 1 we've collected a fantastic 1159.43 miles - we're a third of the way there already!!

Amazing effort from everyone. If you fancy joining in the fun, join us on Facebook.