Personal Best Therapy

After a great weekend of racing, of course I have those medal shoutouts!

First well done to Benji, who completed Torbay 10k and smashed his previous personal Best time by over 3 minutes. Coming in at just under 49 minutes, amazing result! 👏🎉

And second well done to Steve, who also smashed his race - Weymouth Half Ironman. He competed with his son and the two of them crossed the finish line together in 7 hours 14. This was Steve's first Ironman distance, and he did much better than he expected! 👏🎉

Congratulations to both chaps, and everyone else who raced on Sunday 🤩

I'm sure most of my followers are aware that today is Torbay Half Marathon day. But some of you may also know it's Weymouth Ironman too.

Both races hold a special meaning to me.

I've competed in Torbay Half several times and it was my first ever half marathon distance. I always enjoyed the race as running a familiar route made me feel more relaxed and less jittery!

Quite a different experience, I attended Weymouth Ironman back in 2015 as a massage therapist. In my whole career I've never worked such a long, physical, but rewarding day.

I was massaging competitors for 9 hours, almost non stop. But the demand was so high I didn't want to stop because every person in that queue had achieved something incredible. They were all exhausted, cold (the conditions were awful and it rained hard all day) and needing something to help them feel vaguely human again.

I was very newly qualified in 2015 and I remember the next day I had such bad cramp in my hands I could barely move them. But it was worth it. The last lady I treated that day, at just after 9pm, it was her 60th birthday and she had just completed her first ever triathlon... a full ironman... 70.3 miles! She was shivering, and I wrapped her in a blanket as she broke down in tears. She'll stay with me forever.

Races always mean something different to anyone competing them. For me it's never the ones who breeze through them. I'm in awe of the ones at the back. The ones who had to give everything they had to achieve something amazing that they'll feel proud of forever. I've been there, I know that feeling.

So good luck to everyone competing today. A special good luck to two PBT clients - Benji running Torbay 10k, and Steve, doing his first half ironman at Weymouth. Hopefully I'll have some medals to post tomorrow 🤞

Like I was going to turn down the opportunity to work at a local Red Roses game!

I was so excited to be on the Sandy Park medical team today and get to watch a great game between two world class teams.

Seeing Ellie Kildunne and Hannah Botterman in the flesh was obviously a bonus (my current rugby heroes!) 😀 🌹🌹🌹

When you make up your mind to do something, but then it feels like everything is working against you, what do you do?

Sometimes quitting just isn't an option!

I want to say a huge congratulations to one of the most tenacious clients I think I've ever had this week.

Last weekend Kerry completed the Great North Run. It wasn't the first time he'd done it. Kerry has been running a long time and when he signed up he was aiming for a new personal record of below 2 hours for completion.

But then Kerry got an injury. Not a serious one, but certainly one to put him way back in his training plan. Kerry asked me for help and I stepped in with some treatment, a rehab plan and also a brand new training plan that I hoped would help Kerry reach his goal.

Everything was going great... until Kerry got a completely different, unrelated injury!

Not taking quitting for an option, we began rehab all over again and Kerry began building up his running for the third time in just a few months.

Finally ready to race, albeit considerably slower than planned, Kerry came down with an infection, with just days to go.

After a valient effort, Kerry crossed the finish line in just 2 hours 49, and honestly, I couldn't be prouder of him. A bit slower than expected but given everything he had to deal with, an incredible achievement.

Kerry was raising money for Prostate Cancer UK, a charity with a lot of meaning to him, and all he kept saying was he couldn't let them down. 🩵

At the start he had decided this was possibly going to be his last half marathon race, but I have a strong suspicion he'll be back next year to get that personal record!

Well done Kerry 👏 👏👏 You have every reason to feel very chuffed with yourself!

Pretty nice view from the office today! A little bit of Mx Enduro and Mx sidecar racing - which is a first for me... absolutely crazy!

A big thank you to Dave at Custom Interiors & Covers SW for giving my tired old couch a new lease of life!

With a shiny new cover, it looks brand new again 🤩

🐾 Happy International Dog Day! 🐾

Many of my clients talk to me about their four legged friends and how they help them stay fit and active. So I couldn't let today go by without giving a shoutout to our four-legged wellbeing coaches.

Dogs really do so much for our health and fitness, whether we realise it or not.

🩵 Daily walks that get us moving (even when motivation is low).
💜 A reason to get outside and catch some daylight.
🧡 Company that lowers stress and lifts mood. 💚 Routine that keeps us grounded.

If you think about it, dogs quietly tick off several of the pillars I bang on about all the time – movement, stress reduction, and even better sleep (once they've worn themselves out, anyway!).

My own dog Zagi has definitely dragged me out the door on days I'd rather have stayed on the sofa, and I'm always glad he did.

So today, give your dog an extra treat, an extra fuss, or an extra lap of the park. They're doing more for your health than you might realise. 🐶💛

This evening Zagi and I headed down to the Torbay Velopark to watch everyone racing the Torbay Twilight 10k.

It was a great atmosphere, and a big turnout for the 6 and a half lap course. Being flat, smooth tarmac the Velopark is the perfect spot to achieve a PB, and the weather conditions were perfect too - lovely and cool after the last few weeks of heat!

Well done to everyone who took part, and a big thank you to Gary Burman for organising the event, now in its third year running.

Pilates is back on from this evening, with a slight adjustment to the time of my morning classes.

Here is my new timetable:

Tuesdays - 5.45pm
Wednesdays - 11am
Fridays - 11am

All classes are 45 minutes, and £7.50 per class. Or you can purchase a block of 8 classes for £60 and get the 9th class free! 😊 Tuesday classes are free to Winners 2000 members.

All abilities welcome. See you at a class very soon 🤩