Getting coached by Jemma is by far one of the best decisions I have ever made. I came to her at the start of 2021, having been out of running due to injury (in fact, I was in a bit of an injury cycle rut) and had started to loose hope that I would be able to race competitively again. To put things into perspective, I couldn’t even run 5km pain free. When we had our first chat, I was in a pretty dark place but Jemma made me feel so at ease and comfortable, she has a real skill with people and it felt like we had been friends for a while already, not only just meeting for the first time.
When I started training, I must admit, it was a bit of a shock, I had never trained in that way before and giving up the control and trusting the process was difficult on a personal level. But I think one of the things that makes Jemma such a successful coach, is that she is so honest with you, she will call you out if you’re being silly with training (don’t be a dick!) and she explains her training plan to you, and for someone with an ED background who was used to trashing their body, this was so important. Also having been in RED-S for sometime previously, I really appreciated that Jem went a did her own research on it and how to better support me in terms of my bone health and fuelling and we speak openly about periods and hormones, which is so valuable as a female athlete.
Whilst building up my milage, Jemma was really supportive, encouraging and patient. It took a lot longer to get there than we had both anticipated and I think we both learnt a lot through that time. Thanks to her, I now train completely differently to before, my sessions are no longer a punishment they are for fun, enjoyment and are super varied, I run my easy runs really easy (most of the time) and I have a better awareness of my body and how it is responding to the training load and can communicate this honestly.
Having structured training and strength sessions and being held accountable has been really positive for me. Jemma is fair when life gets in the way, but don’t mistake that for her being a push-over, she most certainly is not! I always look forward to our for-nightly catch ups, she always has your best interests at heart, is trustworthy and you will always leave your call with a smile.
I feel so lucky to have her on my team and am really grateful for everything that she has taught me so far. For the first time in a long time, I am excited about my running and I look forward to the next chapters together, wherever they take us. Thanks for everything Jem!