A real life Ironman, in the actual flesh!

As I've posted before I'm not really much of a runner. Yes I run (stumble) and yes I run with a club (more for the social aspect) and yes I've completed a marathon (emphasis on the word completed, not ran) but I still don't really see myself as a runner. My pace is poor, hardly the 7 minute miles I'm constantly reminded makes a runner "awesome" and my technique is shocking, so when the opportunity came up at running club to attend a running technique workshop I jumped at the chance.

The workshop was out at Rutland Water where Mary Hardwick has a studio and runs Inspire2tri. Mary is a Level 3 British Triathlon coach and Personal Trainer, she is also an age group gold medalist and the coach of Zoe Smith, a real life Ironman and 4th fastest amateur women in the UK, so considering my goals this year and next in regard to completing triathlons, meeting her was pretty much amazing!

The workshop was two hours, so after a run around the village and continued warm up in the studio, we set to work for the next hour to work on our technique. This included really going back to basics, but definitely what I needed to get me thinking about how I run! The session was put together really well and Mary explained everything well with Zoe demonstrating to the group so we could try the drills out and get a good understanding of why these techniques are so effective.

After a short break we split into two groups and I stayed inside the studio to be videoed running on the treadmill. We were able to see the results of this straight away and confirmed that I am a mid foot runner but I need to work on lifting my feet more as they are quite low. I also tend to flick my right foot out but I am only assuming that this is a family thing as my sister does it too!!

After the rest if the group had also been videoed, we went outside for a hills session with Zoe, which I was really looking forward to. I quite like hills, but I was especially looking forward to this session with Zoe, purely because she is an Ironman, and a 3 hour marathon runner! Phew!

The session seemed to go really quickly, but this can only be a good thing right? I also found it really inclusive and a comfortable environment to be in, as there was a range of abilities on the course.

The centre was roughly 60 miles away from home so it was a fair drive, but completely worth it, such good value for money. When I got home I got straight on the website to see what else they offer and I'm really keen to visit Mary and the team again as I make this transition into the world of triathlon, so I have sent off my inquiry and am looking forward to hearing from them to get some real guidance with triathlon as I feel a little bit lost with it all, so watch this space!

Tomorrow sees my favourite race of the season, the Leamington Regency 10k. I'm not planning on going crazy, my shins will see to that, but I just want to go and enjoy it, so since those hill sessions earlier I've iced the shins and taped them up so I'm just about ready to go!