Since reading that blog a few months ago, I have been keeping up with your blog, FB etc. I love the honesty, the realism, the highs and the lows, the enjoyment and the pain - but you don't preach, you don’t claim to know all the tricks, you just describe the experience in a great way. Your writing was the final seal on us signing up for the event - it gave us both the hope that it was possible and the realization that it could be possible for us mere mortals. We have never met or spoken, but reading your blog on the Rat Race Panama event was most definitely inspirational. So cheers for the empowerment, and for teaching me that tasty snacks of my choosing are significantly more mentally nutritious than rabbit foods! #squares ES You've taught me that, and ironically it's probably made me a "better runner". When I strip away the competition (with other people, and myself), do what I want to do, where I want to do it, on the days that I want to do it (fuck the rain) at the pace I feel comfortable with, it’s bloody lush. You have taught me to ignore the parts of the running universe that inadvertently deter me from something I actually truly enjoy. Running clubs, elitism, striving, training, goals and ambition: I recognise are all perfectly valuable to the right-minded person, but when you're invested in these it's easy to feel like a failure and give up. My times would fluctuate due to my fluctuating attitude which, in turn, would make me question why I bothered. But because of this, in the past, I have struggled to see the point running. I'm not competitive, which is just as well because let's face it, I possess neither the genetics nor inclination to train to be a winner. She wanted me to love running, and I do - she gave me an amazing gift. Allie knows her stuff and she cares about the people she runs with. I can't imagine a better person to have with you on a journey like this. Allie helped me appreciate and value the whole experience. It wasn't the slog and painfest I had expected. We chatted a lot, about all kinds of things and I kept my head up. I'm a lot slower than she is, but she never once zoomed off into the distance, never once made me feel bad for slowing her down. She got me to the start line, taught me that my training didn't have to be perfect, that I could still do the distance based on what I had already done and my determination. I managed to get an injury and she was amazing. What was way more than useful was when I had some setbacks. I decided to run my first marathon and spoke to Allie about it, as she has run quite a lot of them! She gave me some really solid and practical advice about my training and nutrition.
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