Training for the Vitality 10k
In April, we teamed up with our partners at Vitality UK to take 20 TMR mums on a training journey to complete the Virtual Vitality London 10,000 at the end of May…and what an awesome journey it was!
With just under 10 weeks to train, we were looking for a group of mums who wanted to take that leap from occasional, short distance runner (some of whom hadn’t done a 5k distance before) to completing a 10k event. We swiftly put a shout out asking for applicants into our global community to come and join us. The response blew us away! Hundreds of mums in the TMR community – each with their own journeys in motherhood and relationships with exercise - looking to join a team of women to reach a shared goal. All of them knowing that this would be a challenge, but that being part of a team and having the support of TMR and Vitality UK behind them would help them reach their goal…and have some fun along the way!
With our shortlist selected, we would spend the next 10 weeks supporting these women in their training journey and arm them with the tools they needed to help them reach a 10k distance.
As part of their training, the entire TMR team started with the Run30 App – whether it was needed to build up their ability to run for a certain amount of time or to just build up their confidence, everyone found that using the app was the perfect way to get started. They were also given free access to the TMR Run Strong and Pilates for Runners classes that helped aid the strength that is needed to run distance and to help keep injury free. With the help with some experts in the TMR community and experts from Vitality UK, we ran weekly Q&A’s to arm the team with advice they needed on key areas including nutrition, strength, confidence and mental health.
Vitality UK also armed the team with some amazing partner rewards along the way, providing the ideal training support throughout the 10 weeks – with a Garmin watch, a training tee, vouchers to provide the perfect training nutrition from Waitrose & Partners, Runner’s Need vouchers and coffee from Café Nero to keep them powered up, the team had the perfect preparation for the final event.
Going in to this…each of these women had a different story; some had never run more than 3k, some struggling with asthma and underlying injuries that made them worried that they couldn’t do it, some were just coming back to running after having babies, some were worried about being too ‘slow’, and one lady worried that being over 50 meant that maybe she couldn’t do it…
And you know what? Every single one of them SMASHED IT! Twenty 10k’s completed (a team effort of 200,000K!) twenty goals reached, 20 smiling faces at the end of their runs, 20 medals on their way and 20 women know knowing that they can 100% achieve amazing things when they set their sights on it. No one too slow, too old, too big or too unsure in their abilities – we know how proud they are of themselves and we could not be prouder of them!
So if you’re reading this having just started or starting your running journey, having lost your mojo or just coming back to it after some time out, if you feel too [insert the word that’s holding you back right now] – know that with the support of an amazing community, you can achieve ANYTHING you want to!
Pick your goal, download the Run30 app and GO FOR IT!
About Vitality – Official Wellness Partner of TMR
At Vitality, everything we do is driven by our core purpose: to make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives. We focus on encouraging healthy living and rewarding people for doing so – a key element of our Shared Value model. Our unique Vitality programme rewards you for making better life choices. This means you can benefit today, and live a better life tomorrow. Where your goal is to move more, eat better or stress less, there’ll be something for you. To benefit from the programme, visit Vitality.co.uk to find out more.