Publish date: 20 January 2023
Meet Vincent Law, Consultant - Liaison Psychiatry. Vincent first began running in 2020 at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then with each stride he has been making continued steady progress. As part of the West London Get Fit campaign we asked Vincent to share his inspirational running journey with us and how he is training for a half marathon he will take part in April this year.
What made you take up open running and how long have you been taking part?
As someone who was pretty overweight as a child up until the time when I was training in psychiatry, I have been on a long term mission to keep my weight down with variable success. I got into running towards the end of the first wave of the pandemic. To give the context, I had to live separately within the family home due to exposure at clinical work whilst living with my elderly father who was deemed vulnerable during the first wave. In isolation, my only effective exercise was doing lots of burpees, which really helped with the virtual separation of the work from home space to living space (essentially the same room!).
(A father and daughter run)
What mental and physical benefits have you experienced since you began running?
Honestly, I have never been the best at switching off after work. Running really created a space for me from family responsibilities and work. It is common that thoughts around work and life challenges creep in during a run, but I find myself much more creative and positive when thinking about these. My father recently recovered from a very serious illness and running has been fantastic in maintaining my hope and self-confidence during these difficult times. Touch wood that I am quite healthy so far and maybe taking it for granted.
What beginner’s tips would you give to someone who is thinking of taking up running?
We all start “small” and focus on our own progress- I could only run 5km when I started. I tried not to compare with others and it is very rewarding and motivating to see the gradual progress I made.
There are days that I find it hard to motivate myself to run, the hard part is to get out of the front door and it becomes much easier once I get on the road.
To avoid injuries, it is important to increase workload gradually and find a suitable pair of trainers!
(New Year's day 2023 run)
How are you training for the half marathon in April 2023?
I was able to complete the required distance back in May 2022. I was really delighted as someone entering his 40s, this was the longest distance I had ever covered. Unfortunately, I have injured my knees in training in July and had to go through some informal rehabilitation and rebuild my distance from 3 kilometres week by week. I was thrilled to complete the full distance on New Year’s Day 2023, for the first time since I recovered from the injury. I hope to stay injury free and build up my pace towards the day of event in April.