My background is probably much like yours, coming into the sport of running later in life, doing the odd bit of running to keep fit. I certainly wasn’t a thorough-bred athlete from youth and I began racing at the age of 22 after university. Initially posting modest times at 5ks and 10ks, I began to become infatuated with the discipline of trail running, always seeking to know how fast I could run over the terrain, but specifically, for how far too.
I learnt a lot about competing at the top end of races through trial and error, and within 5 years I was able to qualify for my county Lancashire, as well as England and Great Britain. I qualified for the Long Distance Mountain Running team for Team GB through qualifying at the Three Peaks fell race, posting a time of 2:54:47.
I represented the country at the Giir Di Mont race in Premana, Italy and have also represented England multiple times, winning gold, silver and bronze medals.
In 2020, I was affected and suffered from Long Covid. I went from being at the peak of my running, to suffering major issues with fatigue, anaemia, blood clots, heart issues, digestion issues, chronic acid reflux and more. The answers to fix this were not readily available, and I spent a long time researching and learning how to recover from these issues and get myself back on track.
There were many ups and downs, but I was able to come back and overcome the issues and even get back to winning ways. I was able to do this through through my obsessive nature to problem solve running issues, a whole lot of patience and a carefully considered training plan. Of course, not everyone is suffering these specific set of issues, but knowing the difficulty it was to endure through the hard times inspired me to want to help others, through the good times and the bad!
As a self confessed obsessed runner – whether its solving mystery injury problems, best nutrition for gut health or specific training adaptations for target events, I look forward to sharing my experiences, knowledge and passion for all things running and helping with you with your owning running goals.
