If I could only tell people one thing, what would it be?
Nothing is decided. You don’t need to be talented – you don’t need to have done sports as a kid. You can even have actively avoided it at all costs, like me.
You decide.
And you get to decide if you want running to be part of your life.
It’s tempting to look at people (like me) and assume that they’ve always been running. But it’s often not true. And in my case it’s definitely not. I was a school truant on every cross country day, I avoided going to the gym and I would never run, probably not even to catch a bus.
But then I decided I wanted to go to the gym to get in better shape after my second baby was born, and running just seemed like the easiest option – the less complicated, less intimidating option. The craziest thing happened, I fell in love with it. And it had nothing to do with being in shape, I just loved running. The process of it.
In 2014 I took my 2:30-ish half marathon and turned it into a 1:49 one and people started asking me to coach them. So I went to Athletics Australia, got my accreditation and the rest is history. That half marathon got down to 1:36 and I have never lost my joy in the process.
I believe if you can find your joy in running, it will stay with you for life. As a coach, I’m all about protecting your joy, whatever that looks like.