Team Bangs at Nike with Charlotte Purdue

On Monday I had the pleasure of meeting up with my Team Bangs ladies (with a few absent friends who weren't able to make it!) at Nike Town in London.

Nike were wonderful hosts to us, and arranged for us ladies to meet and interview elite runner Charlotte Purdue.

To have face to face time and the chance to speak with someone who runs full time was just fabulous, and we were honoured and thrilled to chat to Charlotte and ask her our questions.

These are the things which struck me most about Charlotte, and her training:

Surround yourself with likeminded people

Charlotte lives on campus at uni with other runners, so her twice daily run to clock up her 70 miles a week (!) is easier to do when other people around her are supportive and doing similar things. This rings true for me too - although the support of the Team Bangs ladies is mainly over t'internet the fact that we are out there supporting each other and reminding each other to train and motivate each other is an immense support. If socially I was spending time with everyone down the pub (as I was in a previous life!) I would be finding it very difficult indeed to get out and train. Being immersed in positivity and support is key for most goals in life, running included.

Give yourself goals

I know myself that if I wasn't training for Run to the Beat with a commitment to 12 other ladies I would find it hard to keep motivated. Charlotte said that she always need to have a race to aim for improvement on her times and speed. My aim for this half marathon is to simply get round it, hopefully within 2 hours and 30 (anyone and send a cab!). For the next half I do I can then aim to get my time down, and work on my personal bests from here.

Consistency

Key to improvement is being consistent, Charlotte said. You can't expect to run 4 times one week and none the next and see an upward curve in fitness Keep on your programme, keep running consistently and you will see changes.

Big thanks to Nike for the opportunity, support and my fabulous kit.

DD

x

 

More photos to follow from the session once we get them from Nike :)