Catching up with Steve Sammut Nurminen

the man behind Move with Steve. This Movember, he’s running for a cause.

Tell us a bit about yourself…How did Move with Steve come about?

I’m 35 years old and I come from a finance background. I’ve always been involved in sports. In fact, I played basketball for twenty years. However, a few years ago I stopped playing basketball and was going for the occasional run and gym session, but I was not consistent at all and felt like something was missing in my daily routine.

When the pandemic hit two years ago, my mental health was not the greatest. As a result, I started exercising everyday and soon realised the beauty of movement. I wanted to share this realisation with others as I think there is a big misconception out there when it comes to fitness. People normally associate it with the “look good” factor.

It’s only been a year and a half since I started MovewithSteve and I am blessed to have influenced so many people throughout my journey.

Why running? What does training mean to you?

Running is an outlet for my mind. When I run, nothing else matters, my mind and thoughts switch off and I feel at peace. Also, by nature, I’m not such a creative person but when I run, this is the only time I manage to come up with some interesting (and sometimes weird) ideas.

Training is fun, no run is ever the same and this is what keeps it interesting. When it comes to running, you can have a really good run one day and then a pretty awful one the next day – and this, I find, is so relatable to life. 

What does your typical day of training look like?

I’m a morning person so I normally wake up at 5am and get a short run in and some core & recovery work. I then follow this up with some strength training in the afternoon and then another run in the evening. On average, I run between 80 and 100km per week.

November is synonymous with Movember, a month dedicated to raising awareness on men’s mental health, suicide prevention and testicular cancer. Why is this cause so important to you?

I am a huge advocate of mental health. I lost my mother at a young age and, since then, I also passed through some very low moments over the years, so I know what it feels like to be challenged by one’s thoughts. I am one of the lucky ones who managed to find an escape (through fitness) coupled with a great support network.

Some people are not as fortunate, and many are afraid to seek help of fear of being labelled as weak or unstable and I want to do my part to raise awareness on the issue. The mind is just like a muscle, the more exercise it gets, the stronger it becomes.

You plan to run 600km for the 600 men that we lose to suicide every 10 hours. Tell us more about this challenge.

I am always looking for a worthy cause and this one is definitely close to my heart. The statistics are crazy, I didn’t think the numbers were so high. To help raise awareness on this topic, I have decided to cover a distance of 600km throughout my runs for the month. I have no plan on how I’m going to do it, I am just going to do it 🙂

Is there anything that makes you nervous about this challenge? Are there any obstacles that you fear?

To be honest, not really as I’m of the mindset that anything is possible, and I know that quitting will never be an option. As long as I rest when my body needs it and keep my nutrition on point, I should be fine.

I’m sure that there will be days in which you’re not motivated to run. How do you overcome that?

100%! Whenever I have a day when I really do not feel like running, I never force the issue. I either go for a short and slow run or else I just take the opportunity to rest and then I’ll make up the distance on another run.

When I’m home, I normally keep my running clothes on as I find that this keeps me in training mode 🙂

Apart from completing the physical aspect of this challenge, what do you hope to achieve from it?

On a personal level, I’m always looking for ways to challenge myself mentally, and this one will surely have its moments; especially when my legs start to feel the mileage. Each run beyond that point is a mental win. Most importantly though, my main goal is to raise awareness around mental health.

How can the public help?

I’ve set up my own page through Movember where people can donate (any amount whatsoever) towards this cause. Also, should anyone wish to join me for a run, they can message me for the details.

Should anyone wish to support this cause, here is the link Bit.ly/Movember-movewithsteve 

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