A one-sided work/ life balance saw Richard Nicholl’s weight creep up
Until my early twenties, I was fairly fit; I did a lot of judo and was about 12st 5lbs. I started putting on a lot of weight when I went into a training role in my early thirties. I was travelling across the country, stopping in a number of hotels with a more than generous allowance for food and drink. The weight slowly crept up on me.
For many years, my doctor had been telling me to lose weight and do more exercise to control my blood pressure. I had been a self-employed trainer for some time but, in November 2011, my work dropped o ff. So I decided to take the opportunity to finally do something about my weight. I think I weighed around 15.5 stone at the time.
I started with slow, 100-yard jogs near our local brook. I was breathless at the end but challenged myself to go a little bit further each time. I also started to eat regular meals. Throughout my training years at work, I didn’t look after myself and had a tendency to skip breakfast and sometimes lunch as well.
I found training quite hard at the beginning; I hadn’t run for such a long time that I experienced a shortness of breath. But I kept going and, after a lot of hard work and graft, entered Bushy’s Great Southern 10K in August 2012. I completed the race in 52:02, coming in a respectable 42nd place.
The greatest moment so far has to be running the Weston-super-Mare Half Marathon. I did an awful lot to prepare myself for the run and had lost four stone, then weighing 11.5 stone. I ran it all the way, sprint finished and felt great. To my surprise, I also came second in my age group.
The only setbacks I experienced on my way were typical runners’ problems. Initially, shin splints curbed my running for a short time, then ITBS. I had been running with a hernia from August 2012 and finally had my hernia operation last year, which annoyingly meant no running for a couple of months.
I plan to get faster and run for longer. I am looking at competing in next year’s Green Man Ultra. It’s a 46-mile, multi-terrain run around Bristol’s Forest Trails. I feel a great a sense of freedom – I like how I can slip on a pair of running shoes at any time and just go where I want to.
