Chrissie Wellington

Today I met Chrissie Wellington.  In need of some motivation, she’s done it, thank you.

Run with Chrissie is a fundraiser she puts on around the UK to raise funds for the Jane Tomlinson Appeal, a charity established by the late Jane Tomlinson CBE to benefit children's and cancer charities.  Today’s event took place in Richmond Park on what was a gorgeous day in London.

It opened with a brief outline of the day and thank you from Chrissie.  The 100 or so participants broke into groups and started with an easy 5k run.  Chrissie ran with us moving from group to group and chatting with folks the whole time. 

Following the run, we split into 3 groups: one with British Military Fitness, a second with some team GB coaches working on cadence and the last (where Chrissie stayed the whole time to trade stories, tips, etc with everybody) working with a local running coach on technique.

The most useful was the last group where I took the following tips:

- run leaning forward from the ankles (helps adjust to front foot strike)

- squeeze your behind as if you’re holding a credit card (awkward to think of, but it helps posture and make sure you’re leaning forward properly)

- kick heels at the back of each stride (avoid the Ironman shuffle)

- arm swing, focus on strong backswing to propel you forward (most people, including me, focus on the forward swing)

After the training, about 30 pre-registered folks (including me!) moved to the local uni where Chrissie gave a presentation and autographs.  I took the following tips from her presentation:

- motto: always have a motto and write it on all your kit to keep you motivated through the race

- dedicate mi/km to people: in the final stretch of any race, dedicate the closing mis/ kms to those who helped get you to this point

- “defer to no one”: advice Chrissie received from her then coach before storming to her first Ironman World Championship in her first year as a professional

- “bank it”: when you wake up feeling awful and don’t want to do a session, but you push through, complete it and feel amazing afterward, bank that feeling.

I left the event on the ultimate high, ready to take on my upcoming events.