I think we can all agree 2020 has been a crazy year, I thought it would be a crazy year for me for very different reasons as I turn the big 5-0!! Plans for city breaks in Europe, lots of parties all came to a dramatic halt and converted to Saturday night zoom chats instead (5 full hours was our record one Saturday night in July!!)
Fitness, turning fifty and figuring my life out!
I often wonder how I became a fitness Instructor, working for myself, in my forties!! I was a secondary school teacher for nearly 15 years, before taking a career break to stay home with my kids. I always believed I hadn’t an entrepreneurial bone in my body and would not be comfortable at all with change. I always feel overwhelmed leaving my comfort zone and yet I’ve done it again and again and AGAIN these last few years, it’s crazy really but HOW DID I GET HERE?
So for any of you reading this thinking your life is mapped out for you or it’s too late to retrain and try some new, think again!!
Here is a little background to the seed that grew into Fitness with Emer.
I was always fit and active when I was younger. I loved team sports, gymnastics, horse riding, athletics. Fitness was unconsciously part of my life. But the weight crept up in 6th year due to study or maybe it was due to sitting down with the intention to study!! So I became sedentary at 17!
This trend unfortunately continued when I went to college. I gave most sporting activities up and immersed myself in student life with a little study and a LOT of socialising!!
It took me a long time to rediscover my passion for running and fitness. I dabbled with going to the gym, walking, aerobic classes, the usual attempts to lose weight and get back in the zone but it never lasted. This was the fitness story of my twenties.
I had my three kids in my thirties and the battle continued to control my weight and work on my fitness.
Then in my forties, it happened, I finally got back to my first fitness love, running!
After I had my third child, I joined my local athletics club when she was just a few months old. This was a turning point for me, I competed in 5ks, 10ks, even winning a couple of O/40s age categories (honestly the first one was like getting an Olympics medal I was THAT chuffed!) I found myself progressing onto half and full marathons. I discovered something new about myself, I love to follow a plan!!
I was asked to help out with a local running group, coaching and supporting a “women’s only” group to build up to running 5K, and the rest, as they say, is history!
I found my true calling. I always loved teaching, but this was different, the camaraderie, the friendships formed, the fitness motivation, the fun in these running groups. THIS WAS IT!!!
So I took the plunge and decided to use my teaching experience and trained as a fitness and Pilates Instructor. Next up I travelled to London to become certified as a Chi Running technique coach, my main goal was to keep running injury free into my fifties and beyond and I knew working on my running technique was the way to go.
Finally in lockdown 2020, I completed another running technique coach course. Thanks to the new world of online training. And here I am, a brand new Fitness with Emer website, starting online running programmes and Pilates classes and changing my career mid-life.
I love what I do, my local classes are made up of fantastic people, many of whom have become good friends of mine and each other. Running buddy groups continue to form and bond and my Pilates classes are full of like-minded men and women. The local support has been unbelievable and it makes me so proud that I am back living where I grew up and I am helping to bring fitness and I hope some positivity and fun into the lives of people of all ages and fitness levels! I am working now with sports clubs and businesses too, online and in-person. I want to help kids and adults to move better and feel strong and powerful.
I truly believe, no matter what age you are or what your fitness background may be, you can get where you want to be.
For me, Pilates and Chi Running are the perfect combination to stay strong, mobile, flexible and moving forward. It has worked so far for me and it can work for you too. We are living a more sedentary life than ever before. We all know how important it is to get up every day and MOVE but the thing is do we? I look back at my 17 year old self and I wish I knew the significance of simply moving more.
My advice is to take that step, move out of your comfort zone, join one of my local or online running programmes or Pilates classes and we will get moving together! “Move Better Feel Better Live Better”