12.

Meet this week’s Teacher Feature…

Katie’s Story…

“It took me 3 attempts to finish it and it was a bit of a battle if I’m honest, but I was so determined to succeed.”

I ran a lot when I was younger. I loved cross country and I ran for the school a few times in inter schools competitions. As I got older though, there didn’t seem to be room in my life for both music and running and it all fell by the wayside.

Fast forward to 6 years ago though and I downloaded a C25K app – off I went. I had been considering it for some time, but at the time I was in an unhealthy relationship and every time I’d mention it he’d mock the idea and I clearly hadn’t the strength to battle through it. Unsurprisingly the relationship eventually ended and to help deal with the fall out I threw myself into C25K.

“Since I’ve started running, I’ve also lost over 3 stone in weight.”

It took me 3 attempts to finish it and it was a bit of a battle if I’m honest, but I was so determined to succeed. My weight had ballooned and I didn’t like what I had become. I restarted the app after an operation on my nose in January 2017 and the rest is basically history. I finished the app and then trained up for my first 10k at the Great Scottish Run in 2017. The year after, I completed my first half marathon in Liverpool and completed two more that same year, including my first local race.

Then in 2019 I took the plunge and began training for Edinburgh Marathon. When I started running again, that kind of distance had seemed inconceivable to me and it was never a goal to start off with, but I did it and I honestly don’t think there are many occasions in my life when I’ve been more proud of myself. I went on to complete Dublin marathon that year as well, which was an incredible experience, through another tough time in my life. Parkrun Isle of Man was set up around this time too, which I’ve really enjoyed.

Flash forward to 2020 and running wasn’t going so well. I had no idea what it was at the time but I suffered a huge loss of form. It turns out I had a DVT in my leg, which was only diagnosed after I came out of isolation after having had Covid in March this year. I was worried about getting back to fitness, but I was amazed at how quick I got back into running. I’ve now just completed a local running race series of 6 races in 6 days. 35 miles of racing starting with a half marathon. It was an incredible week of running and socialising with some amazing and incredibly supportive friends.

Since I’ve started running, I’ve also lost over 3 stone in weight. I put some of that back on last year when I wasn’t running as much, but I worked so hard to lose it again and running has helped with that too. Running is one of the best things for my mental health. Music does that too, but in different ways. I get a lot of thinking done when I’m running and it clears the mind. I’m forever grateful that I’ve found it again and also for the people that I’ve met through running. I’m proud to call them my friends.

My life revolves around teaching music. I absolutely love my job and I love the theatre work that I do as well, but I needed to find some downtime, some space in my life away from my job. Running has given me that and I am forever thankful for it.

Click the link bellow to follow Katie’s running journey on Twitter!!!