I purposely didn’t write a review of 2023, who wants to read about cancer and chemotherapy and all that goes with it as they toast to the New Year? That’s not entirely true, I did think about an update and had a few ideas in mind but none even made it to the planning stage. Yes, I do actually plan these wee posts. Well, sort of. 🙂

A few weeks ago I had a random email from a training company who were offering Personal Trainer courses and it got me thinking. Way back in the day that was a career I wanted to pursue and I made the choice to focus my studies at University therein. It was a wonderful mix of science and practical experience, the athlete in me (albeit highly hidden) was extremely happy. So here comes the reflections on 2023. I’ve had countless conversations with doctors and medical professionals over the last year and the one thing that I was able to lean on time after time was my training history.

The truth of the matter is that my so called obsession with fitness didn’t start in a good place. I remember the day distinctly, I was about 12, obsessed with Karate and Gymnastics. So much so that we had a plank on red bricks in the garden and that became a beam. The house was in the country and so in the summer the world had this heady smell and I spent hours with my sisters throwing myself down along this “beam” and thinking we were training for the Olympics. Tuesday and Thursday nights were for Karate, and unlike Sundays when I was able to cycle, week nights I depended on my mother to bring me the 3.75 miles to the community centre. Invariably there would be an argument and we would leave at the very last moment, the resultant panic and run into the hall leaving me with a life long hatred of being late. But it was a comment, overheard one day whilst practicing for the “Olympics” that really landed. My parents were talking in the sitting room with the windows open, “look at her, she is a tank with thunder thighs”, the loving words of a mother who valued looks and superficial, well, everything, over intellect and ability. The following day I put on my tracksuit, rode to the track in the University 4 miles from home and ran for 30 minutes. I did the same thing the following day (it was summer holidays) and the day after that learned, in practical terms, what DOMS were for the first time, although of course, I didn’t know the actual technical term. I took to running what we called “around the ring” every second night from then and miraculously, my ability to survive Karate classes massively increased.

That was a long time ago. Through formal and experiential learning I found a fascination in the science behind how understanding a few fundamentals can massively alter the outcome of exercise and fitness. And then last year happened. I will admit that being in lockdown wasn’t good for me and as a result my fitness fell, but since then I’ve been training away hard and I was really starting to feel good again. Towards the start of last year I notice something wasn’t right and it got to the point where I just couldn’t ignore it any longer. Mainly because even walking up the stairs necessitated a lie down to get my breath back. In the many many conversations I had with doctors, being able to share information such as resting heart rates etc. helped them to understand my condition and how I was doing.

If there ever was a reason to put fitness and self care at the top of the list, then last year certainly gave it to me. I’m still far from out of the woods, but every day is a step forwards and I am the type of person who tries to make the most of every day even the ones that aren’t great! For my colleagues who are Karateka, or fitness enthusiasts, the things I have learned over the past year is the training that we do not only brings the physical benefits but also the lovely mental ones. As soon as I was able, I was out of my bed (post op) and set my sights on going on laps of the room, then nurses station and finally the block. Each one was well beyond my abilities when I started out and in fact, I had to declare a failure more than once but I never stopped trying. In the middle of all of this, the physiotherapist came to visit me with a bunch of leaflets, once she heard what I had been up to, slightly shocked, she headed off to get, “different leaflets”. We all know I’ve never been one to sit around.

Once I was able, I sat down and put a fitness plan together and each week on a Monday I tweak it a wee bit and go again. The past year has taught me that training is not a chore, it’s a privilege. Even the sessions where I know I am having to ‘grind it out’ rather than glide through, I remind myself constantly, there were plenty of times when I was not able to come even close to this a few months ago.

All that being said, a few weeks ago I put a presentation together to share some of the latest thinking about fitness and well being, how taking the time on ourselves to improve personal fitness levels means that we will be around for longer for those we love. I am a firm believer that fitness is for everyone, no matter the level, or activity, if it benefits overall fitness then it’s a good thing. I’ve never been so happy to stand in front of a group of people and share some of the things that I’ve learned over the years and my only hope is that they took a few small things away.

Personally, I’ve done a deal with my Professor. It was quite funny actually, he was writing up my notes when I asked if I could pose a question. He set his pen down and turned towards me adding he wanted to give all his attention.My question was simple, (at least I thought it was), “how much could I push my heart rate whilst working out?”. The drugs I am on can cause heart issues and I wanted to clarify my safe working range. “You are not my normal patient are you?” he muttered in response. I had come packing though, I had my workout history for the past 3 years, divided into Karate, cardio and strength with average heart rate ranges etc. clearly labelled. I am not sure if the look on his face was impressed, shocked or the precursor to sending for the psychiatric services. We started the negotiations at 140bpm… I knew that was not going to be something I could live with, sure OK for endurance training but what about the top end? Suffice to say we agreed 170 (ish) but I was to have a HR monitor on at all times. We shook hands on that and I left happy, though hearing him add “no one has ever negotiated that in here before!”.