Exciting news

I’m going to train for a Level 2 Fitness Qualification.

The new advertising campaign at work is based on ‘discovering your  business potential’. And there was an internal competition to pitch for a share of a prize fund to help develop a business idea or fund something related to a business you’re involved in outside work.

I had just one minute to record a video pitch saying what I wanted to do and why. So I put together a speedy 60 seconds with an Olympic theme, asking for the chance to start me off in a fitness career. And I won!

There were some other really worthy winners too,  so I am really chuffed to have been chosen. I have wanted to do something like this for a while, and the competition gave me the perfect opportunity.

So what does it mean? Well it should give me the skills and understanding to be able to teach basic fitness training to other people and to plan and safely supervise training sessions.

There are a number of different options, but the one I’m looking at doing is the gym instructor programme, as I think this will give me opportunities to extend into personal training, which is ultimately, what I’d like to aim for.

I’ve had a look around and got some advice and recommendations from people I know who have done these courses before. There’s one that offers a distance learning option, which would be good for me to fit around work.

Because, I’m not giving up on my full time job and I haven’t lost my love of words and writing. It’s just a great chance to test what I’ve learned so far on my own fitness journey, learn a whole lot more and give me another angle to explore in future.

I’ll probably take up the course later on in the year, after the Great North Run, when I can focus a little less on my own training, but I’m really excited about doing it.

I owe a lot of thank yous to the people who have supported and helped me with my own training, who have given me the confidence to go for this. I get a lot of advice from the forums on Fetch Everyone – from asking questions or just reading what others have asked. Sure, there are always differences of opinion, but there’s a wealth of knowledge and experience on there.

I read a lot too, sports biographies, news articles, blogs – anything related to my interests;  and there’s always something to learn or a new thing to think about.

In the same way that people offered me advice and encouragement about running or training or races, when I was just getting started, this year, I’ve noticed I’ve started to pass that on.

Danni, who I got to know on Twitter is a really keen and enthusiatic runner who has definitely got the bug and I see her improving all the time. But she must have wondered who this strange woman was chipping in on her running tweets with an opinion. Luckily, she’s local and we have actually met in real life and even run together a couple of times. And she’s just as nice as she is on Twitter.

It’s still a bit of a strange feeling that people look at me as a runner, and I get a real thrill of pride when someone asks me about a race or about their training. I feel like I’m getting  a lot of credit just for passing on what I’ve learned from others. But it’s a nice feeling and I’d really like to be able to back up what I’ve learned with the theory behind it. Hence the training course.

I’d also like to say thank you to anyone who has commented on my blogs, here or on Fetch Everyone. Just knowing there are people interested, encouraging, or offering advice has given me a real confidence boost. It’s like having my own mini cheering squad to get motivated to train or keep on trying to get over something like my nervousness about swimming in a competitive environment.

And then there’s Ian, who I can never thank enough for getting me started, for sticking with me and for being the inspiration for all my training and now taking my first steps to becoming a trainer myself. When you learn from the best, you have a lot to live up to, and I only hope that some of his patience, knowledge and understanding has rubbed off on me over the past four and a bit years.

And of course, not forgetting Gary, who I’m sure would like to see a bit more of me than all me training allows. But who puts up with it with a good grace, supports me at my big races and knows how much it means to me.