In exactly 3 months, I will be 50.

I know, I don’t look it and barely look a day over 35 etc ;-)

How do you feel about reaching a big birthday? Do you look forward to them or do they fill you with dread?

The journey to being 50 will be a much more meaningful one than I could ever have imagined.

I always look forward to birthdays to celebrate what I’ve achieved in the year gone by. The next couple of weeks are about of a break then it all starts again on the 1st of January! I had one main goal this year but that was quickly shelved thanks to Covid-19.

Good for age

My original goal was to run a sub 3hr marathon at Stirling in October to qualify for a Good For Age place in the London Marathon. London was where I ran my first marathon in 1998. It inspired me to become a Personal Trainer and help others achieve amazing things as I had just done. I’ve run London a few times since then and would love to go back but by earning my place.

The Stirling Marathon will now take place in May 2021. The bonus is I will have stepped up an age category and the qualifying standard for GFA will be slightly easier!

Reflect, review and start again better

Lockdown was a sign that things needed to change and the opportunity to reflect, review and start again better. I won’t lie, lockdown was horrible but I felt I had to do something so that I felt like I was heading in the right direction. I revisited Simon Sinek’s Start With Why Ted Talk, watched lots of his videos and got up early every morning and went running.

Running has always been great for me to clear my head and think through some ideas. It became perfect for me to think through what was important to me and how I wanted to help people going forwards. Between doing a Business Model Canvas Course through my accountants, Ashton McGill, and chatting to Andrew from Vero Recruitment, I became inspired and had a glimpse of how things could be. 

It was during those runs that a lot of what my Dad believed in began to make perfect sense and changed the way I thought. For him, running was more about getting outside, enjoying the experience and appreciating the scenery. He believed that exercise should be something you enjoy doing, look forward to doing and for how it makes you feel.

I love going out early morning to see the sunrise, the views around Perth and for how good it makes me feel. I now recommend going out early for a walk or run to experience the same and help you achieve more in less time throughout the day. How you feel after you’ve been out and the difference it makes to your day is amazing.

New journey and a new challenge

I feel like I’m on a new journey and feel my beliefs have become stronger, I feel like I’m a better trainer as a result of all this. Lockdown meant that I started doing sessions by video call and eventually some outdoor sessions. This has inspired me to give up my studio and do more online training.

I’ve been lucky to do sessions with people across the UK as well as clients closer to home. I’m happy that I’ve been able to help them get as good results via video call as in person and that’s how I want to continue. You don’t have to go back to how things were before lockdown, you can create something better and I’m here to help with that.

As my birthday draws closer, I have a new challenge! I want to become the best I can be and also revisit one of my proudest moments. It’s 6 years since I had the most amazing experience running all 4 races (5km, 10km, Half Marathon, Marathon) at the Edinburgh Marathon Festival. Like many other races, Edinburgh have turned the 2020 races into virtual events. 

I have signed up to do all 4 races again but this time, to them all on the same day. The combined total mileage is 48.5 miles and so my plan is to do a 1.5 mile warm up and run 50 miles in one day before I’m 50.

Anything is possible

Can I do it? Yes! I believe it’s never a case of ‘if’ we can do something but ‘how’ we do it. Knowing how you want to feel along the way and once you’ve achieved it makes it easier to plan the steps to achieving it. Anything IS possible!

I’m not sure I’ll be able to recreate this pose afterwards!

How do you feel now about your next big birthday? What would you like to achieve by then? What challenges would you like to overcome? Maybe I can help you :-)