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<\/p>\nRecently I was honoured to be invited to this year\u2019s Alfie\u2019s Army first training day. I met this year\u2019s participants and got to hear some very motivational speeches. Alfie himself, was fantastic. His words to the participants were spot on. He was encouraging without being patronising and his enthusiasm and passion for the runners was obvious. He told the runners that:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a race. It\u2019s not about who finishes first or last. It\u2019s about finishing. That\u2019s what\u2019s important\u201d<\/p>\n
This is advice I wish someone had given me when I first started out. It can be so easy to be sucked into the whole \u201cI\u2019m not fast\/good enough\u201d cycle and to have someone say, \u201cIt\u2019s not about winning, it\u2019s about finishing\u201d is such a game changer. I think I fell in love with Alfie right there and then!!<\/p>\n
The participants are all given a tailored plan designed by James Thie, who coaches endurance athletes at Cardiff Uni, and they also have access to a nutritional plan to help them with their training too. I was actually quite envious at this point as I wouldn\u2019t have minded a tailored nutritional plan myself!<\/p>\n
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After group photos, the Army went on their very first training run. A 2-mile route down the Taff Trail was set and off they went. I ran alongside various runners and chatted to them as we ran. Many of them had never run before, or at least not since school. If I\u2019m honest, the best bit about running for me is helping someone else. I love pacing, or just generally keeping someone company and encouraging them as they run, so this for me was fab. I ran with quite a few different groups\/individuals and I can\u2019t wait to see them continue their journey to the Cardiff Half.<\/p>\n
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Like Alfie said on the day:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be tough. There\u2019s going to be days when you feel like you can\u2019t. It\u2019s about dusting yourself off and trying again tomorrow\u201d<\/p>\n
Good luck to all the Army – i’ll be cheering you all on!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Recently I was honoured to be invited to this year\u2019s Alfie\u2019s Army first training day. I met this year\u2019s participants and got to hear some very motivational speeches. Alfie himself, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0},"categories":[74],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n