Ben Piggott –  Week 5 & 6: A roller-coaster ride (18 – 31 July ’23)

The last two weeks have been really tough. I fell into a bit of depression after my mum suffered a heart attack. I spent a lot of time at the hospital and was so worried about her. I found it all too easy to drop my training and fall into old patterns of eating and watching TV. 
I would like to say how grateful I am to all of the On My Feet (OMF) community for being the difference this time. Without their messages and calls of support, kind words and encouragement, I would have continued on a downward spiral like I have before. Such kindness is so foreign to me; it is exactly what I’ve missed out on in the past and it’s quite something to be surrounded by people who actually care about me. It made me feel so loved.

Having slept right through my alarm on Sunday morning – I missed my long run with OMF but I made a commitment to myself that this week would be different. I needed to get back into my routine. So I am back! I ran 14km in the wetlands near where I live and loved the quietness and breathing deeply again. I returned to the gym too and reintroduced my strength training and high intensity cardio.
I noticed a decrease in my strength and my endurance which was a bit scary, but it is only slight. I found one of the biggest mental hurdles was thinking I would have to start all over again. Sounds silly I know, but that is how my brain works. I guess I am already feeling super comfortable running again.

On Monday – I received a bike from the organisation Dismantle who have young guys help them fix up second hand bikes. They are amazing and also gave me a new helmet, a water bottle holder, locks, lights and they put on a carrier! I’m now making cycling a part of my training program . I love it knowing now that I’m fit enough to cycle and I enjoy it much more than waiting for public transport and sitting on stuffy, smelly busses.

I can’t stop thinking about how much OMF has filled my life with all the parts that were missing – the social connection – the exercise and compassion. I have never before experienced such a wonderful healthy lifestyle in part thanks to OMF.

If you’d like to help On My Feet to uplift others like myself, please consider making a donation by clicking on this link to my fundraising page https://sm23.grassrootz.com/on-my-feet/benjamin-piggott
Another way you might want to help On My Feet, is by purchasing some of our really trendy socks online at https://www.onmyfeet.org.au/shop Every pair of socks helps transform lives like mine.