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Once he got going, he was very enthusiastic and persuaded me to get started with his personal trainer, Mike Ovens, who specialised in running, and also runs a running club in Eastbourne.
“I was the very last one in”
Just 18 months ago I went to the club’s running session and managed 30 seconds running, then some walking. Not long after this I took part in the club’s 5k. I was the very last one in, running 38 minutes (now I can run it in under 25 minutes). It was an emotional moment for me. Julie, one of the club’s coaches, ran to meet me as I finished and as I crossed everyone clapped and cheered, and I was so touched.
Clients' Stories
Running helped Sam Attwater, 44, lose 4st. When she started training 18 months ago she could manage 30 seconds of running, now she’s training for her third marathon!
This is Sam's Story.
I’ve always been a yo-yo dieter and when I went through a difficult time in my life, I put on weight. I wasn’t in a good place. But when the scales topped over 12st (I’m 5ft 2in) I knew I had to do something, and not just about how I looked, about how I felt, too.
After that, there was no stopping me; I started walk-running four times a week, and doing personal training and circuits. It was hard at the start but I set myself small goals. I ate sensibly, rather than stick to a tough diet regime.
"Running gave me freedom and it was a release for all the emotion and grief I’d been holding in. When I ran I could cry!"
One of my first milestones was completing the whole of the seafront, which is seven miles. I did this just over six months after I’d started running from scratch.
I realised what I’d achieved when Mike attached ankle weights to me that added up to the weight I’d lost and then made me run up a hill! And in May last year I went on a running holiday to the Pyrenees with Chris. We loved it so much we went back in October and the coaches couldn’t believe how much I’d improved."I’ve lost a total of 4 stone."I’ve gone from a size 16 to a size 6. Like lots of people I used to watch the London Marathon on TV every year and think, one day…Well that one day has now come. It’s not London, but I’m entered into my first marathon in Milton Keynes in April this year.
My dad Chris had been a world class runner when he was young (he held the world record for 3,000m at aged 14) andhe decided he’d get back into it after 30 years.
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