Two Women – Two Stories!

Read the following inspirational articles by two of our Members, Cathy Thomas and Wendy Higson, who tell us how running has transformed their lives.

Our Day With Liz Yelling by Wendy Higson

On 14th June I travelled down to Leicestershire to meet up with Cathy & Liz Yelling. We had a fantastic day and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. We met at a great resort, Champneys Spring and following a “Photo Shoot” !!!! (that was the scarey bit !), we all went out for a run – thankfully at my pace! – Cathy & Liz were very kind to me! After lunch we had a very informal chat/interview for the article in Running Fitness (Sept Issue). I was really chuffed with the finished article and I hope everyone in the Club (and out of the Club) enjoyed the read- LIz did us proud.

It was great to be able to sit and chat about the ‘different ends of the scale’ with running. We all run to ‘our best’ but I don’t think I will ever be chasing Liz around the Berlin Marathon ! I am 36 and unlike many of you,I do not have the pressures of fitting in running around children at home as I am only blessed with a dog! and a partner who loves sport so I am lucky to have lots of support there - but I do, as many of you know, have the horrendous problem of very unpleasant shifts with work. As I explained to Liz, I work as a Trainee Paramedic but on a ‘reserve system’ which means that my shifts and days off change on a weekly basis. I never know when my days off are going to be and I never know what shifts I am going to be working from one week to the next. We work – Days, Lates and Nights and I can literally go from one shift to another and there is no continuity at all – people like myself who are reserves, fit in where needed until a space becomes available on a rota which can be years ! It is so hard to plan anything, including a running programme.

Running can be great for me 99.9% of the time because it actually gives me energy and wakes me up which I need at times! but then on other occasions, I am just too tired to move. It isn’t easy - but I love it. I hated running at school and always believed that I was laughed at. I was always last and just thought that it wasn’t for me. It took till now to realise that had someone actually taken the time back then to show me that anyone can run and that with a programme of run/walk I could have achieved a lot, perhaps things would have been different – but unfortunately I didn’t get that encouragement which I am sure lots of us lacked at school and it took till 2 years ago when I met my partner that I discovered I could do it…. ! I hated being the girlfriend on the side of the road, taking pictures and cheering. I wanted to be cheered at and hugged at the end !

Confidence was my biggest problem. I went through the stages of feeling over weight and feeling like I could only run ‘out of town’ and away from people I knew. I heard one day that someone at the end of my road had commented on what I looked like running and that really hurt. But I turned that ‘confidence problem’ around. They didn’t matter ! I was doing something that they couldn’t do. In October 2004 I ran the whole way around a half marathon ! the people who mattered where proud of me. Those that weren’t proud, weren’t worth knowing! I now run round town ! I wave to the people that I know and I hold my head up high and I smile ! I may carry excess weight, but when I’m out there running, I’m a lot fitter than those people driving past me in their cars.

I am sure there are lots of people out there who say they can’t run. But they can. It doesn’t matter what size you are or what you’ve done in the past- I couldn’t run to the end of the road 18 months ago and look at me now. There is always 20 – 30 mins slot in anyones day, no one can dispute that. There is nothing like that force fed oxygen and that feeling of achievement when you stagger back through the front door and think Oh my God I’ve got to stretch off now too !!!! - It leaves me with the feeling of, Wow, I can do what I want now! I’ve exercised and I’m alive !

Thanks to running. I am a lot healthier – I have had the honour of spending the day with Liz Yelling and Cathy Thomas – my body shape is now changing (without one of those diets that doesn’t work !) and – I have made a lot of friends through Running 4 Women. Not forgetting, that I’ve now been on the shelf in W H Smiths too !!!!!

Thanks for a great day out Liz

Wendy

Cathy Thomas talks about what inspired her to start running:

I first got the ‘running bug’ after my second child, Phoebe, was born in 2001. My sister-in-law, Lianne, had started power walking which eventually progressed to jogging to lose weight and I watched with fascination as the pounds dropped off. Being over 30, with plenty of ‘baby weight’ still to lose, I thought ‘if she can do it, then so can I !’ and so started my love of pounding the streets…….

I can still remember my first run – it was a mile out and then a mile back and I was absolutley chuffed that I managed to do it without stopping – albeit at a snail’s pace !

My first race – yes, I couldn’t believe I was actually going to do what real runners do – was a 5k Race for Life in Swansea in May 2001 and from there, I have progressed to 10k’s, half marathon and am doing the Cardiff marathon in October this year.

I work full-time as well, heading up a busy Personnel and Training Unit in a Social Services department with direct responsibility for nearly 40 members of staff and when I am not working, I have a full time job looking after Ryan (10) and Phoebe (5).

I quite often am asked how on earth I manage to fit running into my life and I tell them if you WANT to do it, you will find time – how many people settle down to watch their favourite soaps every night without fail ? If you can find time for that, then you can find time to run, is what I say ….

My husband is a runner as well, which is good in that he understands my need to run. However, I have a set window each day when I know I must fit my run in and if I lose that window, then the chance is gone – this means I have to be focused and determined in what I do.

I also encourage my children to get involved in running – Ryan does come with me sometimes on his bike – I try to avoid my long runs with him now (as I am training for the marathon) as after an hour, he tends to go puce and needs oxygen ! However, he has done a number of fun runs and is extremely proud of his medals. Phoebe can’t wait to start collecting hers as well !

Running is a real de-stressor for me. Some nights I come home feeling really stressed after a hard day, get my trainers on and pound the streets. When I get back, I feel better and am a nicer person inside. I honestly think, that if it wasn’t for running, with all the differing challenges put in my way in my personal and working life, then I would either be on valium or a raving alcoholic ….. and we don’t want to go there !

For anyone who feels motivated to get their trainers on now, I would say – do it ! Walk and jog before you can run, if you like. Just do 10/20 minutes – whatever. It is the ‘doing’ it that matters. Whenever I see someone out jogging, I always think ‘RESPECT’. Nothing more, nothing less – that, I think, is the sheer beauty of running.

Cathy