NEW YEAR, NEW YOU
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School of Speed:Wellfast
Keen to reignite her love of running after an injury, our photographer Fi Digby-Jones sought expert help from coach Dr Margot Wells…
away and back towards her so she could analyse my alignment. It appears, and I quote: “my legs are hanging on by a thread”, not the sort of statement I was expecting, but then no one has scrutinised the way I walk before. No matter, I’ve got a thick skin, and besides, Margot said she would have that sorted by the end of the session.
I’ve always enjoyed running, so when I injured my knee shortly before the inaugural Surrey Half Marathon in 2014, I felt huge frustration and disappointment at not being able to compete.
Margot then coached me through a series of strengthening exercises using a resistance band, which, on the face of it, seemed quite simple, yet these were clearly having an effect as each time Margot asked me to take a little run, I was running faster and faster each time, without noticing any extra effort on my part. My knee injury also wasn’t causing me any pain, but then again, it doesn’t tend to unless I try to run over long
My injury was then exacerbated by a pathetic tumble on the slopes during my last snowboarding holiday, so I was only too eager to engage in a 1-to-1 with Dr Margot Wells of Wellfast. My only reservation being that I had to be in front of the camera, instead of behind it where I feel more comfortable, but hey, at least you now know what I look like! Wellfast was founded on Margot’s passion for speed and power, and as a former international sprinter, she well knows the joy of running and is keen that everyone should feel the same. Margot not only helped her husband, Alan Wells M. B. E. win the Olympic 100m gold medal in 1980, she has also worked with many professional rugby players. After an initial discussion to ascertain where my injury was, what had caused it, and how long it had been since I’d last ran, Margot simply asked me to walk
distances, or push myself too fast, so was keen to find out if I could build up to the distances, and achieve, or better still, improve on the times I was accomplishing before my knee started to give up on me. To this end, Margot emailed me the exercises I had performed during the session and told me to do these daily for a week instead of my normal workouts, then go for a run and report back to her. At the time of going to print, I was yet to go for this run so check our website for the results and who knows, with Margot’s confident advice to guide me, perhaps I’ll be able to compete in this year’s Surrey Half Marathon!
For more information, visit www.wellfast.co.uk
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