I started running during the start of the Coronavirus pandemic – right at the start of it, in March 2020 – and now I run about 100km a month. Over the last 5 years, according to Strava I have run over 6500km since then. Prior to 2020, I went years without ever going out for a run. Especially in my mid-20s I went from being quite active to becoming very lazy and unmotivated. This year, 2025, I plan to run my very first full marathon – whether it will be a success or not, I do not know – I will do what I can.

 In this blog, I will give you some tips regarding how I was able to become a runner.

Record It and Write It Down

I started in March 2020 because my sports club, the Cologne Celtics GAA Club, started a friendly competition with one of our rival clubs, Darmstadt GAA. We couldn’t play each other on the pitch so we challenged each other to see whose club could collectively run more kilometres. It is strange to say but until then I had never recorded my runs… I had never written down the distance covered or even really measured the distance covered. When I rarely went for a run, I would put on some music on an MP3 player and just go out… I rarely went for runs during that time, maybe once or twice a year… I did go to the gym a bit in school and in university, but by the time 2020 came around it was maybe four or five years since I was really in good shape.

The process of recording the run, writing it down and logging it for our collective kilometres was the key to increasing my motivation. Every time I went for a run, I had to record it and write it down – so March 23rd 5km. It is that process of small, incremental changes making the different… but it was really great for me. I eventually downloaded Strava and since then I have used Strava for every single run. I also record my runs in a notebook so that I can see how many kilometres I am clocking up.

Now I keep a record of every run, and I set distance goals that I want to achieve in the year.

Set Goals

After a successful 2020 where I ran over 600km, we entered 2021. Whereas in 2020 everything was pretty new with the Coronavirus Pandemic, by 2021 it was getting exhausting. Of course, the pandemic was a concerning time for people with the health risks involved and the inability to travel, see friends and family and do ordinary activities that we took for granted but it was also something quite new for many of us. It was a break from ordinary life. It was a chance to start new things. Some people took up making sourdough bread and learning instruments, I took up running. But facing another year of uncertainty in 2021… it was difficult to get motivated in January.

However, something new came along for us at the Cologne Celtics then… a woman based in France – Aisling Demaison came into contact with us about a project she wanted to push – #RunningHome. This initiative was a chance for us to raise money for homeless charities in Ireland, such as the Peter McVerry Trust, by running the distance from where we were in the world to our hometown in Ireland. From Bonn to Cork, I measured it as 1256km (based on Google Maps). At that time, that distance seemed ridiculous, so I split it with my teammate – Laura Kennedy – as her hometown was on the way to Cork. So, from then on whenever I went out for a run, it was for the purpose of eating into that distance. Laura also did a lot of running that year and really contributed a lot of kilometres into that distance! By the summer, we had “ran home” and accumulated 1256km!

Nowadays, I am no longer “running home” but the idea of a set number of kilometres was one that stuck with me. Now, I aim for 100km a month as a minimum… Strava tracks my kilometres and gives me a digital trophy when I reach the 100km, so it is a nice way for me to stay motivated and going… especially on mornings when I really do not want to go.

Building a Routine/The Process

95% of the time I reckon, maybe more, I go for my runs between the times of 6:30 and 8:30. I go before breakfast, before eating anything, and before I shower. This time is what works for me. Before becoming a runner, when I would consider “going for a run” I wanted everything to be right… Had I eaten enough but not too much? Was there a big enough time gap between my last meal so I wouldn’t have an upset stomach? Was the weather right – not too hot, not too wet, not too cold etc.? Were my running shoes the right ones? Due to this, I rarely if ever went for a run. Now, for those people who know me in real life, you will know that I lived next to one of the best places in Cork to go running – my family home is next to the Mahon “Greenway” … I went for walks there regularly but rarely ran.

Nowadays, as said I go about four times a week. My running shoes are waiting for me outside the door, and my running clothes are stored in the office room next to the front door… I get up before my kids are awake on weekends and on Mondays when they are not going to the childminder’s house, and on home office days I go for a shorter run after my older daughter is on her way to the childminder’s house. Maybe I will need to rejig my system when my partner, Ute, is back at the office a couple of days a week after her maternity leave… but right now that is the system.

My phone and earphones charge in the office room, and I have an elastic band ready for my keys to keep them from rattling in my pocket… I also bring a packet of tissues and an energy gel bar – from “Science in Sport” – with me, just in case. I have my podcasts all downloaded and usually one picked the night before so that it is ready for the run. At this stage it is a well-oiled machine! My alarm clock goes off around 6:30 and I am trying to make that progressively earlier as the mornings get longer, and the days get warmer… I will be doing a full marathon soon after all!

Set Targets – Marathons, Half-Marathons, 5kms, 10kms

Running is its own reward in many ways, you feel better, lose weight, you have time for yourself in this manic world and it just is so good to get out to discover new routes and get into nature. During the Pandemic, I did two virtual half-marathons – one was the Waterford Viking Half-Marathon, and the other was the Cork City Half-Marathon… thinking back on that now, they were both in June 2021. Completing two half-marathons in a month is pretty impressive. So, for the first couple of years running I didn’t have any real big running event to look forward to because they weren’t happening. I don’t think I need the big events to keep me running but they are certainly worth considering.

In April 2023, I lined up for my first big official half-marathon – the Bonn Deutsche Post Half-Marathon – and this year (2025) I am doing it for the third year in a row… That summer I completed the Cork City Half-Marathon, and I did it again it 2024. This year I am going back to try the full thing in Cork, and I have also signed up for the Cologne Half-Marathon.

As good as going for a run yourself is, nothing quite compares to the big days when there are 1000s of people out running next to you. They are really magical because you are surrounded by so many others out with you, but also the crowd on the street – playing music, handing out drinks, holding supportive signs, shouting and cheering for strangers… They are really what life could be about – positive human energy. I would recommend them as a target for anyone who is physically capable of doing them – whether you do a full marathon or a couple of kilometres on a relay team… whether you run, jog, amble or walk it… It is such an invigorating experience.

Due to the energy of the crowds, the chance to always chase after somebody, having fast runners pass you, all of it… I have managed to get much faster times running in official runs than I do when running by myself. It is so much more motivating to be out there at these official events than to be going around Derletal or Brüser Berg for the 100th time by myself listening to The Rest is History Podcast. When I completed the virtual half-marathons, I did them in well over two hours… but my first attempt at the Bonn half-marathon was 1 hour 50 minutes, my first attempt at Cork was also sub 2 hours, before recording 1 hour 44 minutes for Bonn and 1 hour 47 minutes for Cork. I cannot wait to experience more of these events as my kids get older, and when it will be easier to travel.

Find A Community or Club

We are social animals, and we like doing things together in groups. I am not a member of running club myself, but my membership of the Cologne Celtics GAA Club is what got me started with running on a regular basis. Back in 2020, although we were all separated and not together in-person due to the Pandemic, it was motivating to run my distances to try and run further than my teammates. We had a big excel sheet where we recorded our distances, times etc. In our WhatsApp groups we shared tips about running shoes, routes and how we got motivated to get out running. There wasn’t much else to do back then.

Nowadays, the team is back playing hurling and Gaelic football – after all, we are not a running club – so the running chat isn’t there any more… However, I am grateful that it was one of the factors that got me out in the first place. Now, my community is mostly online. I have friends who I mostly talk about running with, and when I can I meet up with them at big events, like the Cork City Marathon. They share tips with me about runs in Ireland and I will hopefully be able to share tips with them about runs in Germany, when I can experience more than just Bonn. Strava is very motivating for me. Getting “kudos” from your friends and Strava connections is quite nice – I know it shouldn’t be, but it is. It is just motivating to see other people in my life, getting out, getting fit and looking after their health as well.

Will I join a club in the future? I don’t know. I like to run when I want to run, and that is normally in the morning. Maybe if my working life changes and I need to be in the office more often… maybe then I could foresee it happening. However, I would love to be part of a group like the Sanctuary Runners if I could be – there are Sanctuary Runners groups all over Ireland now, and they are spreading elsewhere. A positive group of people coming together for a run and to have the craic would be great. However, right now I am covering my distances anyway. But if you want to get started running, that is certainly an option. Clubs can also be great if you want to compete to win events. One of my friends changed his life completely by joining a club. He went from being quite overweight and not in a good place to radically changing everything around following becoming an active member of a sports club. So, it can happen!

Conclusion

These are my tips on how to make running a habit in your life. At the start, it is about finding the right motivation – whether in a club or community or by writing down all your runs and recording them – but afterwards it just becomes a habit based on systems and goals/targets. I love running and it is something I feel I was born to do… not particularly fast but I enjoy it anyway. If none of these work for you, and no other tip on the internet or in books work for you, then maybe running is just not what you should do. If you have any tips that got you out running or if you have any tips about great places to go to run a marathon or half-marathon, please leave them in the comments.