Hiya my name is Ginny. I have been a member of Red Rose for probably over two years although it seems less, as I spent most of last year struggling with injury. I live on my own with my two daughters, Madison aged 10 and Tiahna aged 8. They are are both keen members of Red Rose juniors. I love living a healthy active lifestyle and think it’s important to encourage children to do the same.
Besides allowing them to make friends away from school, teaching them how to set goals and to work towards them, I also see running as a gift to pass on. Running is a great stress reliever and has seen me through many of life’s challenges.
Running has been part of my life for quite some time. I ran for Merseyside Army Cadet force as a teenager and then during my army career, running (with full kit and rifle) was just part of the job. After leaving the army I went back to University to retrain to become a nurse. During this time running took a back seat. After I had my children I picked up running again and realised what I was missing. Since then I have been hooked. I have run several half marathons, 10 milers, 10k’s and 5k’s as well as one of those evil assault courses (without full kit and rifle this time). To be honest I was a little apprehensive to join Red Rose Road Runners as I didn’t know how much committment I could put into the club. This is the best thing about Red Rose. The club is full of different ages and abilities. People who run every training session and people like me and my girls who dip in and out but who are still made to feel very welcome. It’s difficult for me to make training sessions in the evening but we are very much a part of the juniors training on a Monday. You will also see me at Preston parkrun, religiously running whist the girls play in their hockey team. We also like to take part in cross country and any race round and about that has a fun run as well as the main run!!
I have toyed with the idea of a marathon for many years! I start the training and usually get injured. I was booked on the Liverpool Rock and Roll marathon last year, only to pull out half way through training with an Achilles’ tendon injury. This has taken most of last year to heal and still isn’t right! During this time I visited many physiotherapists and sports massage therapists. This sparked a bit of an idea with me. I had been struggling with the demand and stress of my nursing career and was looking for an alternative career path that would work well along side nursing. I wanted a career that would transfer many of the skills I have learnt in nursing but have the flexibility of working from home. The ideal would be to be able to combine my passion for running and living a healthy lifestyle along with being flexible with the children and home life. So, I enrolled on a sports massage course myself and have spent most of my injury time working on my course. I hope to launch the business in the summer of this year. So watch this space!! I’m a bit more relaxed about my running goals now. I’m still recovering from injury so at the moment I’m just focusing on being back on my feet and enjoying the experience of being outdoors and rekindling the love of running without the pressure of such longer distances. No doubt the idea of running a marathon will rear up again in the future. Fingers Crossed.