TIPS FROM THE TOP
THE NIKE APP RUNNING COACH, 41, ON GOING FROM ‘FAT KID’ TO LOCKDOWN FITNESS CHAMP (WHILE FIGHTING ZOMBIES WITH AN UMBRELLA)
Is it true you used to be overweight and unfit?
I started putting on weight in my late teens and 20s and it slowly built up into this gut without me realising. It wasn’t until I had to run the 100m at sports day that I realised I was really unfit. I was like, ‘That’s a really long way!’ Then in 2006 a friend ran the London Marathon and I went to watch. On the day it was like, ‘Wow, people are having a good time!’
It’s a festival vibe with people cheering for strangers, runners looking happy, some looking sad, and a huge outpouring of emotion. In front of all my friends, I said in a really blasé way, with no experience, ‘Yeah, I’ll do this next year’, and all of them laughed and said, ‘You eat kebabs and drink beer – so how are you planning on doing it?’
And that really spurred me on. It was a case of, ‘OK, you don’t think I can do this – so now I’m definitely going to do it!’
So how did you start?
My training started a few weeks after that and I had no idea what I was doing. I couldn’t even get to the bottom of the road – and that’s where my phrase, ‘Just get to the bottom of the road’ comes from, because that was my only goal, to make it there without stopping or falling over. I had no idea about running tech and gait and what I should be doing or wearing – I was running on grit and emotion. After I managed the end of the road, it was a case of ‘Let’s get round the block’ or ‘Get to the park’, basically the same advice I use now – think about getting to your goal.
Can anyone get fit?
I think anyone of any size can get fit – it’s just dependent on where you are when you get started. Somebody else’s ‘bottom of the road’ might literally be walking out of the front door. Just don’t compare yourself to other people – they’re doing something different and it creates unnecessary pressure.
I’ve taken great pride in helping people who hate running or movement, or are suffering from depression or anxiety and don’t enjoy life. Some of these people find my voice and coaching style suits how they need to learn – and that’s beyond job satisfaction. Perhaps the people I’ve loved getting moving the most are my mum, Marilyn, and my little sister. Neither of them ran, but since I started on my fitness, my 60-something mum has run loads of 5k runs and halfmarathons.
How have you spent lockdown?
Having the time to sit still and think a lot more helped my creative side to blossom. I set up a podcast that is about exploring the word ‘help’, as well as doing live sessions to encourage people to get moving using household objects instead of gym equipment, which I know is too expensive for many people to have at home. So I started doing workouts with umbrellas, kettles and toasters, turning normal household routines into vibercise videos for Instagram.
What’s been your most popular household item yet?
Probably the umbrella because I made it quite playful – saying it was a sword and we were taking on zombies at home – all while exercising choreographed moves to music, using hips and arms in time to the beat. Each 15-minute routine takes me at least three hours to work out – planning the music, which starts off slow, then goes through genres until it goes from soul to reggae, then dance and house as people really warm up.
What’s been a highlight of your lockdown videos?
Being noticed by the head of sport at a school in Peru, where they’d seen one of my videos with a frying pan pretending it was a tennis racket. He thought it was such fun that he asked if I’d do a PE lesson over Zoom – so it was 115 Peruvian schoolgirls, a headmaster and me in my front room with a frying pan.
What’s the toughest part of being a motivator?
When you have a bad day yourself – and that does happen. You wake up and you need a video or someone to inspire you because you’re just not up for it.
What do you watch to relax?
This sounds weird but I’ll watch the ridiculous videos of little bunnies bouncing around or I’ll go on another channel and look for videos of things to inspire me, like videos of amazing feats that you watch and think, ‘That’s not possible’.
What’s your advice to someone who wants to become a coach?
Listen, soak up as much knowledge as you can, find people who inspire you and tell them why you love what they’re doing and ask if you can come down and watch them.
How did you get the Nike gig?
I started running with Run Dem Crew, then set up Run Dem Crew West in Paddington and organised my own events, like a scavenger hunt around the city, giving everyone a map and getting them to run in teams and hashtag it. Nike approached me for a photo shoot, then when I set up Track Mafia they asked if I wanted to record something for the audio part of the app. It grew from there.
Mistakes, you’ve made a few…
I always say don’t change anything about your routine on race day, because I once tried a drink during a marathon which had too much glucose and it ruined my race. I had what’s referred to politely as gastric distress and the rest of my race was a complete nightmare.
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