I reached out to Jemma in February 2022, on a bit of a whim after seeing someone I followed on Instagram had started working with her. I’d never really thought of having a running coach before. I’d been running since I was a teenager where I raced competitively and whilst I was no longer running that frequently/racing very often I thought I could get quicker if I wanted to, all I needed was to sit down and study an online training plan. The problem was, in a busy life there was no way I was ever going to allow myself the time to do this. This was evidenced by the fact that my goal when I signed up with Jemma was to beat my half marathon time, and that had been my new years resolution every year for 10 years.
Whilst starting coaching with Jemma was initially about a time, it quickly became much more than that. I loved the variety of the sessions Jemma set, I was suddenly doing speed sessions regularly and Jemma encouraged me to incorporate strength sessions in my week which was entirely new. I quickly learnt that being accountable to a training plan, and having someone check in with me about that was a key ingredient that had been missing from my running for years. I found myself making ways to fit running into my life, it was no longer something I squeezed in if I had time. I learnt that for many years I hadn’t really been pushing myself when it came to my running, and I enjoyed the challenge of doing so again. Our fortnightly catch ups offered a chance to debrief about sessions, plan ahead, and also have a natter about dogs, books, people watching.
Being coached by Jemma has made me fall back in love with running again, and the benefits of that are wider reaching than just PBs. Times and races have come/gone, not always gone to plan etc. but the most important part has been the relationship I’ve developed with my self. Jemma’s confidence in me to do tough sessions, her faith that times will come has pushed me to do things I would never have imagined being able to do again. In doing so I’ve got back in touch with all the parts of me from my earlier running years which I’ve loved. Jemma said really early on, that she’d need to rebuild my confidence, she was right.
Having a plan has kept me on track when life is stressful, but Jemma’s firm/kind understanding has also helped me learn to trust when I need to slow things down/switch things up with my training. Through this process I’ve learnt to trust myself, my body, my decisions and the process all over again. Oh and 2 years on, after lots of hard work, persistence and encouragement I finally smashed that half marathon PB!
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