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Community Member Focus - Michelle Mortimer
53 Plays5 years ago
In this episode we continue or "Getting to know you " community member interviews. Today's guest is Running Coach Michelle Mortimer.
If you would like to be a part of our Getting to know you, Community Member Interviews then please DM us on our social channels or email us on info@ukrunchat.co.uk
Enjoy getting to know Michelle.
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Transcript
Introduction & Invitation
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to this episode of the UK Sports Chat podcast. I'm Joe Williams. Today's guest is Michelle Mortimer, continuing in our line of interviews with community members. If you would like to take part, then please drop us a DM on our social channels or email us on info at ukrunchat.co.uk. Enjoy getting to know Michelle.
Balancing Running & Lockdown
00:00:25
Speaker
Hi, Michelle. Thanks for joining us. Hi, Joe. Thanks for having me on.
00:00:29
Speaker
How are you? I'm good, thank you. Yeah, not too bad. Good. Have you been out today for your hours exercise? I have. Yeah, I actually got a running today. It's been difficult recently, hasn't it, for everybody, but because I've got the two dogs and I've got the little one at home. So it's been difficult to fit a running because we're obviously only allowed out once a day, but my husband's off work today.
00:00:55
Speaker
it meant that he could go out with the dogs and I just got a running three times around the block. I thought I'm going to stick to that and just play it safe, not go on silly long runs and just do what I can and just be grateful I can get out for some fresh air for half an hour to be honest.
00:01:11
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, very sensible. Yeah. We've done our dog walk. Yeah. Together. Yeah. Well, thanks for joining
Career Transition to Running Coach
00:01:20
Speaker
us. You're the second of our guests on our community member focus after Matt yesterday. Yeah, it's exciting. Yeah, it's good, isn't it? Getting to know everyone in the community. So come on then, let's start with what do you do for your day job? Oh, mine's a bit of a mixed bag.
00:01:40
Speaker
Um, so I gave up full-time employment, um, about how long ago was it now? Probably seven years ago, actually, just before the little one was born. Um, and I didn't want to go back full-time because it was, I just didn't want to, I was a marketing manager. Um, so that would have just been very full on and I didn't feel I could do it part-time. So, um, I've been coaching at our running club, um, for a while.
00:02:08
Speaker
And I just thought I'd set up on my own. So I got, when I say coaching, I've been kind of, I was a leader in running fitness at the time. So I've been leading a group very informally, wanted to learn a bit more about coaching. So I took my coaching running fitness qualification. And I do that now as self-employed. So I just basically work online helping people as a running coach.
00:02:33
Speaker
I don't tend to do much face-to-face coaching. The face-to-face coaching that I do tends to be at the club, which I still do voluntarily. But I tend to work with people from all over the country, all over the world, actually, just helping them with training plans.
Teaching & Equipment for CaniCross
00:02:51
Speaker
And then, aside from that, I've recently, a couple of years ago, qualified to teach Canny Cross as well, which is Running With You Dogs.
00:03:00
Speaker
So I lead some groups, some social kind of cross groups. I run some Couch to 5K courses doing that as well, just teaching people how to run safely with the dogs, make sure they've got the right kit. And then I also do some social media work and help with UK. Run chat with you as you know. Yes, you do. Yeah. So I'm kept busy. A lot of my work is usually at the desk on the computer, but I do try and I'm lucky that I can
00:03:29
Speaker
be very flexible and I can get out for a run with the dogs most of the time. Not at the moment, obviously. Yeah. Should you make other people out with the dogs, India, doing the Kani Cross? What does that look like? Do you go out in groups with the dogs or do you teach people how to run with their dog? Yeah. I mean, basically anybody that wants to learn how to run with the dog in harness. So Kani Cross began.
00:03:57
Speaker
from sled dogs, really. So, you know, like husky type dogs. And it's evolved into running. There's lots of different variations of it. There's people who do it on bikes and scooters and all sorts. But Candy Cross is the running arm. So we, basically people get in touch if they want to learn about running in harness with the dogs. I run taster sessions for them. So I'll go out with them for an hour. I'll fit them up with a harness. I'll make sure we get a suitable harness for the dog. It's quite important.
00:04:26
Speaker
Um, to make sure it's a proper running harness for dogs. So, um, just make sure that we're not injuring dog shoulders and necks with unsuitable harnesses really. Um, so I'll take them out for a little run. Um, so I run, um, catch to 5k courses in groups as well, small groups, um, never more than about five or six people. Where'd you do that? Where'd you live? Um, I'm up in Bolton right on the edge of Bolton.
Community Engagement through Running Groups
00:04:53
Speaker
Um, so I'm really lucky because I'm right on the edge of the West Pennine Moors. So we've got so many, so much open space, um, so much more land. Um, and yeah, we're so, so lucky. So I tend to kind of do it all around the local area, really. Um, wherever suits people. Is that where you take your couch to 5k? Is this a nice place to learn to run? Yeah, it's beautiful. It's nice. I love taking them up on the Moors. Yeah.
00:05:22
Speaker
Yeah, it's really nice. And the canny cross the same, you'll go up on the moors, will you? With what, sorry? With the canny cross, do you take them up on the moors as well with the dogs? Yeah, the dogs love it. It's really open up there. And there are often sheep up there, but because all the dogs are on leads, obviously, we can keep them under control. So it's just nice. You feel like you're running freely with your dogs, but you're staying safe and
00:05:51
Speaker
Yes, it's really, really great to get out up there. Tell me more about your online coaching that you do. What's that involved? Well, really people get in touch with me when they want to, you know, they've got an upcoming race or they've got a certain goal that they want to achieve. And they basically just need help with structuring a plan or
00:06:13
Speaker
Some people need some motivational help, so they just need to know that someone's there in the background, in their corner really, and somebody that they're either accountable to, or somebody that can be there cheering them on. I get quite a few different types of people getting in touch with me. So I basically come up with a plan with them. What that looks like depends on the individual client really.
00:06:41
Speaker
I mean, at the moment, I'm just looking at my board in front of me. I've got people training for marathons that we've had to put a lot off at the moment. So we're building in maintenance plans for them. I've got people training for very long ultra marathons. I've got one client here who wants to just run a 5K PB. So it's all kinds really.
00:07:05
Speaker
That's hard. Yeah. That's really hard. Yeah, it is. You see, just really hard running 5k as fast as you can. It's horrible. I've just been out for 5k today because I thought that's going to be my new challenge while I probably can't get out for a run much. And today, just running at the edge of that threshold, it just feels tough, doesn't it? You're just hanging on there. You just want it to end.
00:07:36
Speaker
So you mentioned when you started coaching with the club. So what club was that and when did you start running? Oh, God, I started running, gosh, nearly 20 years ago. Now that makes me feel really old. I
Running Journey from University to Present
00:07:53
Speaker
was at university at the time and I was studying marketing and modern languages and I had to go and do a year abroad. So I did six months in Spain.
00:08:03
Speaker
And then the six months in Italy, I basically just spent, um, eating and drinking and having a great time. Um, cause that's, you know, that's culture over there. You'd kind of go, it was brilliant. I loved it. Um, our friends would come and pick us up after work and we'd go out and we'd eat and then we'd go for a drink. Um, so when I got, when I got back to the UK, I think it was like February time. I just felt a bit like unhealthy. Um,
00:08:31
Speaker
and just wanted to get fit. So I joined Weight Watchers with my mum and I started swimming with my friend and I signed up to A Race For Life in the May because I thought I'll start running and I'll see if I can just get a bit fitter and a bit healthier. So I remember the first run that I went on, Dan, who's now my husband, took me on this little loop that was probably only about, what, two or three K. And I remember
00:09:01
Speaker
crossing over a bridge over the river and just bursting into tears because I just couldn't do it. It just felt so hard. It was horrible. And I try and empathize with people who are starting off running out by remembering that because it doesn't always feel like that. But when you start, it can just feel so hard and so impossible. So yeah, I vividly remember just bursting into tears and thinking, I hate this. But I did my 5K.
00:09:30
Speaker
the first time you met your husband was it oh no god no it wasn't the first time i met him we'd met a couple of years ago but he thought he'd take me out running and i cried on him i probably shouted at him as well but i don't remember that bit it's not put him off it's all right he still loves me that's good and i know you've you've been involved in starting a club haven't you yeah well um
00:09:58
Speaker
It was quite a while after I started running. So probably about 2010, I think it was. I had a little break from running. We got married, we had a lot on, we moved over to Lincoln actually for a few years. And running just fell by the wayside. Yeah, which it can.
00:10:18
Speaker
I just yeah, at the time, because obviously, I'd started Weight Watchers originally to lose a bit of weight. And from that, I've progressed into becoming a Weight Watchers leader. And so I was doing that as a part time job on top of being a full time marketing manager. I obviously had all this time on my hands because I wasn't a runner at the time. And so, but I remember I wasn't doing much exercise then. I remember standing at the front of my classes, my Weight Watchers classes and telling people that
00:10:48
Speaker
you know, we needed to be eating healthier, being more conscious of the food choices we were making and moving more. And I kind of had this epiphany and thought, actually, I'm not, I'm not moving about at all. We had a dog by then. So we were, we just got our dog Bella. So we were going out for little walks with her.
00:11:08
Speaker
Um, but we weren't really doing much. And I thought, you know what, I'm going to start, I'm going to start that running again. Um, so I gave up that Weight Watchers job. Thanks. I just felt like a hypocrite actually. I thought I can't carry on. Um, and I started running. Um, and that was essentially, I've not stopped running since then. Um, and I think when you kind of run for a different reason, um, I discovered that I really enjoyed it. Um, and I got those endorphins. I thought this is brilliant.
00:11:37
Speaker
And then we were just walking, we walk into the fish and chip van across the fields with friends one night actually. And these friends were quite enjoying doing a bit of running as well. And we just said, you know, why don't we, wouldn't it be really cool to get a group of people out together and running?
Building a Local Running Club
00:11:55
Speaker
So we said, yeah, right, let's set a time, let's set a date, let's advertise it in the local magazine. And we did, and one person turned up the week that week.
00:12:07
Speaker
And we're like, yes, we've got a club. That's all it needs. That's all it needs. Yeah. And then another joined us the week after, um, and it just went on. Um, and eventually I think at one point we had over a hundred members for this club and it was, yeah, it was, it was a really steep learning curve. Um, cause we had no idea what we were doing at the time. We were just enjoying running and helping others enjoy running. So that was when we, you know, we thought we better take some.
00:12:38
Speaker
leadership qualifications, figure out what we're doing and just took it from there. So yeah, we affiliated the club and I obviously had to hand that all over a couple of years ago when we moved back to the Northwest. How long did it take to go from one to 100 in that club? Oh God, probably a few years, probably.
00:13:04
Speaker
maybe four, five years, something like that. It was kind of a steady growth. It's still brilliant. It makes you wonder how many clubs have started like that because there's so many running clubs. You were walking for your fish and chips. And that culminated in over the coming years in, well, ultimately, you know, working full time in the running industry. I know, it's amazing where it leads you. Yeah, it really is.
00:13:33
Speaker
Well I know all those other people who got involved in the club and the things that they've achieved since and it's amazing really. Yeah, I'm very grateful we had that conversation walking for fish and chips about then. Perhaps wouldn't be where I am now, yeah. So what are your
Training & Enjoying Runs
00:13:52
Speaker
goals at the moment? What are you training for?
00:13:56
Speaker
keep fit at the minute. I was training for Bolton Marathon, which was meant to be in the middle of May. Obviously, everything's on hold. We don't yet know whether that will happen in the autumn or whether we'll just postpone to next year. But to be honest, I'm kind of easy either way. I don't mind. I was doing it for fun because we've not long moved back to Bolton and I just wanted to run a hometown marathon. I've stopped doing so many races lately.
00:14:23
Speaker
A few years ago, I was all over the country doing lots of stuff, getting, just feeling like I wasn't spending enough time with family, feeling a bit guilty. So I thought, we've got all this beautiful countryside on my doorstep. I'm just going to enjoy running and exploring, doing lots of trail running. I've really been enjoying, I've recently back in January started some new groups.
00:14:53
Speaker
Um, I'm not affiliating these cause these are kind of under the umbrella of my new club. Um, but they're just the social running group. So I've really been enjoying getting out with other people. Um, and I haven't been so, so worried about running goals and entering races. Um, so it's nice. Yeah. So it is, it does. I don't know about others, but I'm the kind of person who when I've got a goal of a measured race.
00:15:21
Speaker
I start to get very anxious because I feel like I've got to beat my PB. It sometimes takes the enjoyment out of it. Yeah, it can do exactly. If you take the fun out of it, you can become anxious, you can become obsessed with it. Sometimes just running is the
00:15:47
Speaker
It's the event itself, isn't it? It is. So that's what I've been doing more of lately. So just going out with the dogs, meeting friends, yeah. Have you got a favorite event you've ever run?
Unique Running Events
00:16:00
Speaker
Oh, favorite event. I'm going to say Round Sheffield Run. It's an event that happens every June around the Sheffield Trails. And it's a round away marked course that's originated as a walk. So it's about 16 miles long.
00:16:17
Speaker
Um, but this event is so unique. They run it as a staged event. So I think there were 11 stages to it. Um, but basically the, the entire course is about 30 miles. So what they do is you run these, the beautiful trail sections and when you get to a road, that's the end of the stage and they stop timing you and you have a little recovery while you get, you know, along the roads or across a busy road. And then you'll start the next stage and they'll time that again.
00:16:47
Speaker
So it's a great way of not having to marshal busy roads for one. It means you can run off the trails. And I just love it. It's a brilliant event. Me and Dan, my husband, we've done it for the past three years as a pair because you can run it as a pair or a team or on your own. And we just love it. It's got too popular though. So they started a ballot this year and we didn't get in and we were really upset.
00:17:12
Speaker
When you run it as a pen, is that as a relay or do you just run along together? No, you run together, so you're not allowed to kind of, you've got to wait for your partner before you kind of div out and finish your stage, so it encourages you to stay together. Yeah. Yeah, it's really good. I've never done another event like it.
Family Involvement in CaniCross
00:17:28
Speaker
It's brilliant. I love it. Chef feels beautiful as well. Yeah, sounds good. What's your go-to accessory or product?
00:17:40
Speaker
It's probably a mechanic cross kit, to be honest. Oh, is it you run with your dog a lot? Yeah. Yeah, it is. Especially at the moment because I've got the little one at home. So she's seven now. So she's been doing junior park run for a few years. She's not really enjoying running. She does it because we do it because she's always seen us do it. You know, she's been in the buggy since she was six months old with us round park run.
00:18:09
Speaker
So it's totally normal for her. But recently to get her out, she is really enjoying having the dogs attached to her. Yeah, so that accessory is on every walk at the moment because I'm like, yeah, we'll get a bit of running in today.
00:18:29
Speaker
So this is one of the belts where the, where the lead comes from, like the centre, is that right? I've never used one. Yeah, basically you wear a waist belt, but it's more like, it looks a bit like a climbing harness. So your legs go into it. And then the dog attaches to your waist on a bungee lead and pulls you. And because the weight, the pull from the dog is going through your hips and your waist, you've got a lot more control. So a lot of people say to me, I'm really scared. I've got a really strong dog.
00:18:59
Speaker
or a really heavy dog, I'm worried I'll get pulled over. But because the dog's pulling from your waist, it's the strongest part of your body. So all you need to do is just lean back and you've got total control. It's brilliant.
00:19:12
Speaker
But do you see many people with big dogs? Oh, I can't imagine like, you know, someone's got a great day. Yeah. I've run, there's a lady who's got a, what is he? It's a German short head pointer. I think he's, he weighs 45 kilos. He's lovely. And she manages to control him absolutely fine. And there was a lady with a Husky who came, um, recently to one of my social groups and he was a big dog.
00:19:39
Speaker
And again, no issues, no issues controlling them when they start running. Yeah, it's great fun. Are they flying along? Are they getting people on? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's good fun. You got a nice flat trail. It's brilliant.
Rapid-fire Running Preferences
00:19:56
Speaker
Right into our quick fire round. Oh, go on then. If you heard this with Matt yesterday or not, road or trail? Trail. Road or trail? Trail. Thought so. Morning or evening.
00:20:07
Speaker
Morning, usually, yeah. Music, yes or no? Oh, no, never, never. I'm a trail runner, Jo. Never listen to music. Fair enough. Red team, metal blue. Oh, red. Yeah, forever red. Red. App or watch? Sounds like I'm saying... No, I've never happened, actually. App or watch? Oh, app or watch. Yeah, it did sound like you said Apple watch. Watch, yeah, Garmin.
00:20:38
Speaker
your Garmin have you? Yeah. Peanut butter, smooth or crunchy? I hate peanut butter. Am I allowed to say that as a runner? I really can't stand the stuff. So neither. I think I know that is the next one. Dogs or cats? Dogs. Always dogs. Yeah. Tea or coffee? Oh, it depends on the time of day. Tea first thing in the morning and then a proper coffee mid-morning.
00:21:05
Speaker
What's a proper coffee? What's one of them? Ground from beans. Nice beans. Right. Yeah. Lovely. Netflix or Amazon Prime? Oh, I don't really watch much telly. Couldn't really call it. What are your favourite movies you've ever watched? Probably the only one I've enjoyed recently has been The Crown. Was that on Netflix? I enjoyed that. I think so.
00:21:32
Speaker
Yeah. There's a lot of stuff I don't watch. I'm, I'm a bit funny about blood and gore and violence. I don't watch it. There's enough of it in the world. I don't need to see it on telly. So that kind of rules a lot of stuff out for me. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of the popular ones are full around. Beer or wine? Wine. Yeah. Wine. Is that your guilty pleasure? Well, to be honest, I don't drink much. I don't know. I'm kind of at that age now where
00:22:01
Speaker
If I have more than two glasses of wine, I feel rubbish the day after, so I tend to eat just not to drink. But we did have a glass of wine last night, probably for the first time in about two or three weeks. So, yeah, yeah, it does go straight to the house. Because you spent a few days together. Yeah, we need a drink.
00:22:26
Speaker
It's everywhere, isn't it? There's either going to be a lot of separations or a baby boom from there. Yes, yeah, I'm definitely predicting baby boom, I think, yeah. What have we got left? Pineapple on pizza, yes or no?
00:22:43
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I can go with ham and pineapple. I quite like that. You can do that. Yeah. Toilet paper, over or under? How it's positioned on the toilet roll holder. I can't believe there are people who do it under because that's just weird. Yeah. Over. Right. Favorite non-running hobby?
00:23:09
Speaker
Oh, probably. It's probably reading.
Book Club & Recent Reads
00:23:12
Speaker
I've got my little book club. We meet up every month. We'll probably have to do it virtually this month, actually. So yeah, I do like to escape into a good one. At the moment. And between books. So I've just finished a book about somebody who ran the Camino de Santiago.
00:23:35
Speaker
which was really good. So it's a big long trail to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. And they ran it all the way from France. So that was brilliant. So I've just finished that. And I'm just about to start where the crawdads sing, which I've heard good reviews of. So looking forward to that. Do you have multiple books on the go at once? Or will you just stick to one? Yeah, I've got three on my bedside table at the moment.
00:24:01
Speaker
I've also got the famous five. I've just bought our daughter the famous five entire collection. So I'm rereading them all. And I'm really enjoying it. So yeah. So actually, yeah, I forgot I'm about five chapters into the first one at the moment. Yeah, The Secret Seven. What was the other one with Moonface and that was it? Oh, the Faraway Tree. Yeah, we love those.
00:24:23
Speaker
Cool.
Social Media & Connection
00:24:25
Speaker
What's your Twitter and your Insta handles for people to follow and your Facebook page? Instagram and Facebook are mileswithmichelle. And Twitter is mileswithshell, just because I couldn't fit all the letters in my name on Twitter. So yeah, there you go. Thank you. Thank you very much for joining us. It's been Ace doing community focus with you. Thank you, Shell. Yeah, it's been great chatting. Yeah, I've enjoyed it. Thanks, Joe.