My name is Amar Chauhan. I am 29 and due to turn 30 in July. Day to day I’m a Business Intelligence Analyst. I love my job and I have a huge passion for all things data. I started running regularly in October 15 just because I wanted to lose weight and my work colleagues at the time were really into running it so I thought I’d give it a go as well. My base fitness was OK. I was fairly active in my younger days because I played a lot of football but non of that stop start running you do in football prepared me for running a fast 5k!
Within the first couple months my 5k time dropped from 35+ minutes to 25 minutes and from then on I really got the bug to do more and get better. I started trying out 10ks and before I knew it, I was onto a halfs and occasionally running up the odd hill here and there! I was well and truly hooked. Discovering Parkrun and the running community was fantastic. It was so encouraging being around people who wanted you to do the best you can and from the off you could tell the running community was a happy community! For me what makes running even more exciting is bringing in my passion for data and statistics. I discovered applications like SmashRun and Strava and they painted a picture about my current running abilities, style and training that blew me away. It was fantastic to be able to combine my passion for data with a hobby like running.
Two quotes that have stuck with me throughout my running adventures; “Get comfortable with being uncomfortable” and “Aim to complete not compete”. It was those two quotes which got me through my toughest running challenge to date. In November 2016 I completed my first marathon. Arguably the toughest endurance marathon in the UK, Hell of a Hill. Last year I completed the marathon on the Sunday. This year I aim to do the 5 in 5, 5 marathons in 5 days!
Unfortunately due to a few a niggles and injuries, the back end of last year was very stop start and this is one of the reasons why I have joined RRRR so I can start doing more structured training, get some track time and also start enjoying running with other people again. I joined RRRR and within a few days I can already feel there is a family vibe.
2017 Running Goals
-Sub 23 5k time
-Sub 50 10k time
-Run over 500k
-Complete Hell of a Hill 5 in 5
-Spend as much time as possible on the track!
-Meet new people and help out RRRR where I can!