I came to Jemma asking for help with my running, without really knowing what it was that I wanted help with. I’d been a runner on and off for a number of years and I knew I wanted to improve but I didn’t know where to start, how to go about it and was lacking structure.
Jemma asked questions about my running journey so far and really listened to all I had to say, both in terms of my physical running and achievements but also how I felt about it mentally, my motivation to run and my focus. She quickly identified that I lacked consistency in my training and amazed me by commenting immediately that I had potential to get faster.
I remember feeling flattered and a bit embarrassed that she thought I could do a 5K quite significantly quicker than I was currently able to. For context I had struggled to run a sub 30 minute 5k since having twins almost 3 years ago, but had managed to clock just under that time in January 2020, and at the time I spoke to Jemma a few months later I’d just managed to get 27.20 – the fastest I felt i had in me. She looked at my past and recent runs on strava and said I had the potential to run under 25 mins and she believed I could achieve that in 4 weeks of focussed training.
She asked how often I ran, how often I could commit to and what other training I was doing and she built all of this into a personalised 4 week plan. The plan suited me exactly -it stuck to the number of days running that I was comfortable doing (3) and built in the yoga which I love and also added some core and strength work which I’d been neglecting. It gave each of my runs a specific purpose (easy, speed, long) along with detailed instructions on what I should do. The speed work followed the same pattern each week but got gradually tougher and more intense. I’m not going to lie – I found that part of the plan quite intimidating and I found each of my speed sessions almost impossibly difficult. But without exception I managed to complete them, to my complete amazement – and with each session my confidence grew. I still didn’t really believe I was going to be able to run a whole 5K at the pace I was doing my speed work, but I felt I owed it to Jemma to give it my best shot and so after 4 weeks of following the plan meticulously I set out to a parkrun route to do the flattest time to 5K I could find. I ran 24.48 the fastest 5K I have ever run in my life and I felt so incredibly proud. I immediately messaged Jemma to let her know – she was as delighted as I was although a whole lot less surprised!
Her plan, and her belief in me has got me and my body to do things I never thought possible. Since achieving this my relationship with running has changed , my confidence is growing both as an athlete but also in every area of my life. I love having the accountability of a plan and Jemma just the other end of the phone to message or FaceTime with to chat through how it’s going and make any adjustments as we need. She gets real life, she gets being a mum, she gets the challenges of everyday life and how they can sometimes overwhelm us, but she also gets running and all the amazing things it can do for us – mentally and physically. Her belief in all these things and in me, has – I believe – genuinely changed my relationship with running forever. I’m excited about where my continued coaching with Jemma will go next….
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