The focus of Mental Health Awareness Week 2026 is “Take Action” for mental health.
But sometimes taking action is not about pushing harder, keeping going or doing more.
Sometimes it’s recognising when your mind and body are already telling you: enough.
At first glance, these medals from the Milton Keynes Marathon weekend probably just look like a story about running.
👟The Rocket 5K on the Sunday.
👟The Half Marathon on May 4th, complete with the Star Wars theme and the rather impressive Darth Vader cow medal.
But for me, they represented something a bit different this year.
The Race I Wasn’t Sure I Could Finish
If I’m honest, I’d been worrying about the half marathon for weeks.
After my last 10-mile race in Folkestone at the beginning of April, my body had really been struggling. Injuries meant I hadn’t managed nearly as much running as I’d wanted beforehand, so by the time race weekend arrived, my focus had shifted from performance to simply getting round.
I secretly hoped to finish in under three hours.
I didn’t quite make it.
And honestly, it was tough.
The route was far more undulating than any of us expected and physically I really struggled at times. By mile 11, I wasn’t entirely convinced that “May the 4th” was with me after all.
But I finished.
When Everything Keeps Moving Anyway
Then reality immediately kicked back in because work and life had still been happening alongside all of it too.
I only had one normal working day last week, so naturally I tried cramming everything into it. On the Friday, I was supervising an election count which, despite going brilliantly, was still a very long and mentally draining day.
The team was fantastic, everything ran smoothly and several people came over to compliment us afterwards.
But by the weekend, I’d originally planned to run another 10K race and do Parkrun too.
Instead, I did neither.
Recognising the Signs
I felt exhausted, emotional, flat and rough physically.
At first I thought I might be coming down with a cold, but looking back, I think it was simply my mind and body finally saying:
“Enough now.”
So instead of pushing harder, I went to support others instead. I stood and cheered family, friends and other members of the running club on from the sidelines.
And actually, that was enough.
The first few days of this week still felt a bit wobbly mentally. Work worries crept back in, the self-doubt kicked up again and everything felt heavier than usual.
Sometimes Taking Action Looks Different
We often think ‘taking action’ means doing more, pushing harder or keeping going no matter what.
But sometimes the healthiest action is:
- slowing down
- adjusting expectations
- accepting support
- letting yourself recover
- recognising that you cannot run at full pace forever
As someone who works in wellbeing, resilience and mental health, I think we sometimes forget that knowing the tools and actually using them are two very different things.
We are still human too.
And perhaps that’s what I’m taking from the last couple of weeks.
Not every season is about peak performance.
Some seasons are simply about getting through, recovering well and starting to find your feet again.
What’s one thing you might need a little more of right now? Rest, support, movement, connection or simply a bit more kindness towards yourself?
