My first 5k race at the NAS Sports Tournament Race

Growing up, I needed to run to keep up my stamina. My skating programmes involved jumping, spinning and carving my feet into the ice to gain speed while maneuvering difficult footwork, keeping my posture and arms in form whilst keeping to the beat of the music. It was the definition of a full body workout. It was tough. We courtesy at the end of our programmes to the judges with a big smile on our faces but our hearts are pounding at full speed as it desperately pumps blood through our body.

Fast forward in life and it has been a good while since I’ve experienced that adrenaline. But here I am at the infamous Meydan racecourse, and I have just finished my first 5k race as an adult woman. Also, tough. But I’m proud of myself and consider it an accomplishment and let me let you into why.

Despite sports being a huge part of my childhood and teenage years, my personal fitness regime in my adult life has been incredibly inconsistent. Mentally I still thought of myself has fit, but my body has often said otherwise. After birthing two children was when I got back into my personal fitness. But when I started skating again, I could hardly get through an hour lesson. When I started the gym again, I walked out of the gym in absolute agony (the good kind). When I started running again, I could not run longer than 5 minutes. It was hard to accept that in reality, I was not fit anymore.

When I was coaching, I was on the sidelines and without taking the time out of the day to practice, skills get rusty. But after teaching for 5-8 hours a day sometimes, (while in figure skating boots) my feet were in misery and the last thing I wanted to do was practice. On top of that, I had a family waiting for me at home. Going for a workout was just another hour out of my day without the kids. Enter the mum guilt.

When I had a helper at home and the kids were in school, workouts became easier to manage and maintain. I worked with an amazing trainer who helped keep my mind focused and disciplined until I couldn’t afford it anymore. Then I got pregnant, I moved to the UK (without my husband) and it was like starting all over again. Mentally my mind was like a window with 10 tabs open and while I should have prioritised at least 30 minutes out of my day, I was honestly just drained. Single parenting, recovering from just given birth while being in another country (although my home- it is not the kids). I just couldn’t find the mindset to prioritise myself.

It did not become easier with time, as I moved back into the UAE, had to get the kids back into school, no helper at home so organising the daily routine and keeping the house together was now my sole responsibility. I had stopped working, but I was still in my 2nd university year and once again, my mind was anything but structured. My priority was home. Make sure the kids were fed, doing well at school, had their activities and were happy whilst taking care of the house. All while passing my modules to get through the university year.

As my whole adult life was inconsistent, so was my athleticism. My body in consequence suffered a lot and the stress was overwhelming. I knew I had to mentally get into a place where my mind knew the importance of taking care of the body. I desperately needed to slow down and structure my thoughts. I needed to find the discipline to stay consistent while also balancing the priority of taking care of the children.

This did not mean working out every day and pushing myself but instead it meant taking the time to meditate and reconnect with my body. It meant healing my muscles and hormones from stress and finding two days a week to move. Just move, whether it was a run, a yoga class, a Pilates session or the gym. I just had to move. That was my attainable goal. It is now about maintaining a long term, consistent healthy lifestyle.

Fortunately, working together with family and my husband, I recently found the time again. My youngest has finally accepted other members of the family to take care of her which means that I finally have found a bit of time to myself. And these are the times I prioritise my mental and physical health.

Entering the NAS sports race was purely by luck and so although I knew I was able to run 5k, I also knew I was very unprepared. The athletic persona in me thought ‘but my time is going to be so bad’ while the coach in me thought ‘the time doesn’t matter, it matters that you did it, the chance has come, and you should take it’. So, I did. 

Rushing from an iftar gathering, changing from my traditional jalabiya to my running attire, I entered the Meydan racecourse to hundreds of runners warming up. Some running to beat their personal best times, others running with their run clubs, and some running simply to participate. It was an event that positively highlighted what sports is about.

The race was split into categories and the first to begin were the 5km UAE national men and open men categories, then followed the 5km UAE national women and open women category and last the 4km youth and junior boys and girls. Once the majority had completed, at 22:30 the 10km race started.

The atmosphere embodied good feelings as people cheered on and motivated each other to finish their runs. The competitive emotions were shown when the winners crossed the finish lines with incredible times to a crowd congratulating them with applauds and cheers. Medals were given to all the participants and pictures were taken with athletes proudly wearing them around their necks.

Am I going to let you in on my race time? No. But I am going to tell you that it won’t be my last 5k race and I will improve in my next run. The time may be my motivation to do better. Finishing the race brought back the adrenaline I had when I finished my skating programmes in competition, and I absolutely missed and loved the feeling. I appreciate events that bring back that sort of passion and it is exactly the reason why I love sports. For me, that was the biggest accomplishment. Finding motivation again and a realisation of what my body can do when I mentally just tell myself to do it.