I ran a lot in my early 20's, I used to watch the London Marathon every year on TV and it would get my running juices going. I felt inspired and wanted to run like the people I saw chucking out mile after mile on an epic journey. I watched World Championships, the Olympics and wanted to try and run as fast as I possibly could, as far as I could.

I soon realised a few things:

1) When you are not an experienced athlete or a beginner at running you CANNOT run fast AND long.

2) Yes others can make running look easy but when you are just starting with running it can 'feel' really really tough, especially when you try and run too fast.

3) When you try and run really fast it is like a tunnel vision happens - you have to concentrate so hard that your field of vision narrows and it is so difficult to enjoy the experience.

So I got really injured and then didn't run for about 15 years.

Last year my need to start running was like a burning itch, I kept thinking about it, started reading running books and blogs and checking in on the Runners World website.

Then one day I got up, put my trainers on and started to run.

I started off by just running a kilometre. Then a few days later another kilometre and so on.

Finally I reached 5 kilometres.

I had made a pact with myself that once I had got to the magic 5 I would go and run at my local parkrun. If you aren't familiar with parkrun - it is a 5k timed run every Saturday morning at 9:00am. There are parkrun events all around the world and it is a great social way to run the same distance every week, in company. It is NOT a race (certainly not for me anyway!)

I was so anxious to do my first parkrun that I got ready really early and paced around my flat drinking lots of cups of tea. I got to the start nice and early and needn't have worried, lots of people said hello to me and the organisers made sure I knew what I needed to do.

So at 9:00 am we set off and the rest of the run was a bit of a blur. I crossed the finish line breathing so hard I felt dizzy. I was elated though. I really did have that runner's high that people talk about and I STILL remembered the feeling from years back.

A couple of hours later and my phone pinged a text message alert. I had completed my first timed 5k in 28 minutes and 30 seconds. As I hadn't run with a watch, timer or phone I didn't know what sort of time I had done, I thought it would be more than 30 minutes and I was momentarily elated.

A few hours later though and fatigue set in, I had a headache and was really hungry.

I knew I had pushed myself too hard, got into the excitement of running with others and my pace was far faster than all my shorter runs leading up to my first parkrun.

I pushed it to the back of my mind and the next few weeks before Christmas I got back to the start line each Saturday and sprinted my way through the 5k.

The problem with that approach was that I started to not actually enjoy the run. I was puffing and panting so hard that it made each run feel like running through a very narrow tunnel. I couldn't appreciate my fellow runners, the trees, the clouds in the sky, the birds singing. It was all I could do to keep my legs moving.

I decided to monitor my heart rate - with one click of a button on Amazon I ordered a Wahoo fitness heart rate monitor. At the next parkrun I strapped it on and recorded my run.....

No wonder I was struggling!! Having worked out my heart rate zones I was up near the top of my maximum.

Checking my heart rate at parkrun - the horror of nearing maximum heart rate!

As I walked back home (with my heart still beating hard) I decided to approach things I little differently.

I remembered learning all about heart rate zones years ago in my training to become a PT. I looked at my data from my heart rate monitor and decided to approach my next run keeping my heart rate within the fat burning zone.

SO MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE.

In my journal that day I wrote:

This is what I want my running to feel like. Saying hello to other runners and dog-walkers as I pass. Listening to the sounds - the river gushing downstream, the woodpeckers drilling for food, the dogs barking. I want to take in my surroundings, to feel aware of my body, to consciously allow it to relax.

I am never going to be the fastest runner in the world, so why do I feel the need to sprint along? what am I trying to prove?

That day was a turning point for me. I am approaching my running totally differently. Although I had run for years, years ago, my body needed to build a running base again. I needed to enjoy my running, to experience the joy of putting one foot in front of the other as lightly as I could. To learn to breathe again comfortably.

I am still building on this, I have to remind myself to keep slowing down but I am getting there.

I am slower in my 5k parkrun now, I am really enjoying each run and my weekly long run is up to 11 kilometres.....it feels comfortable....I feel comfortable.

My running is so much more enjoyable.

I would love your thoughts on this, do you enjoy your running or does it feel like a hard slog?

I am hoping to form a separate category for my heart-rate training and my learning from it each week.

Wherever you are in the world, get in touch - I love hearing from other runners.