Purposeful Training

Purpose and accountability are the biggest factors that will motivate me to put my body through tough times and complete challenges that to others may seem crazy! My purpose might be to get fitter, conquer a new event/running distance or set an example as a PT and coach. By having accountability to someone/something you feel like you have a responsibility to complete an event or you are letting them down. Over the years I have been accountable to my husband, friends, a coach and a charity In the UK. In the lead up to my 40th birthday I completed a series of tasks and challenges to raise money for Macmillan Caring Locally, a cancer charity in my home town. It was for this charity that I completed the London Marathon dressed as a playing card in 2015.

When I signed up to the Sydney Marathon earlier this year, I was planning on keeping it very low key in case I had overestimated my ability to run the distance again. As the weeks have progressed, and the running distances have increased (along with the aches and pains), I have found it increasingly harder to motivate myself to work hard and race day has filled me with a sense of dread!

They say that fate sometimes has a way of changing things. This happened to me when I met Craig Gaunt (and his daughter Hayley), founder of the Debbie Gaunt Foundation at a Women's health event where I was a speaker. I was totally moved by his story and it struck a chord with my life stage, so in that moment decided to try and help raise awareness of their charity (and hopefully some $$$ too), by running the Sydney Marathon for them. Once again my purpose and accountability were restored.

I will share more information on The Debbie Gaunt Foundations great work soon, but here is a brief synopsis from their website to start you off. I'm sure you will agree that every training km no matter how hard, will be worth every step!

The Debbie Gaunt Foundation was created to build awareness about perimenopause, an often-challenging life event that can have devastating impacts on a woman’s physical and mental health. Founder Craig Gaunt became aware of this knowledge gap after losing his wife, Debbie, to suicide in 2019. A much-loved wife, mother, friend, and colleague, Debbie became severely mentally unwell shortly before her death, an episode that has since been partially attributed to the hormonal effects of perimenopause.