{"id":6247,"date":"2021-06-03T17:42:44","date_gmt":"2021-06-03T17:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/?p=6247"},"modified":"2021-06-03T17:43:25","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T17:43:25","slug":"runner-feature-saskia-wickins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/runner-feature-saskia-wickins\/","title":{"rendered":"Runner Feature – Saskia Wickins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Never being someone that has enjoyed sport or any type of fitness (apart from dancing) three years ago, 30 was fast approaching<\/em>.
\n
\nI joined a gym<\/strong> and reluctantly got on the cross trainer. I wasn’t enjoying it or getting the results I wanted so switched to the running machine.
\n<\/p>\n

Everyday 3-4 times a week I would get up in the middle of winter and drag myself, in the dark, to my local gym where I would run to 80’s power ballads for 20 minutes…. it was unsatisfying and wasn’t getting any easier.<\/em>
\n
\nI was living with a housemate at the time who had run the London marathon and was due to do a 1\/2 that summer, she told me to try outdoor running. I was so hesitant as I thought once I moved off the treadmill I wouldn’t be able to run at all so carried on.
\n
\nI was traveling for work and found myself in LA,<\/strong> staying in a hotel on the coast with no gym, one evening I put on my trainers and just went on to the beach path and did my first outdoor run!<\/strong>
\n
\nI think being on a Californian beach really helped but after I was so energised, proud and loved it!<\/div>\n

\nI haven’t stepped foot in a gym since, that was two years ago.<\/em>\n<\/p>

\nI started finding the routes around my area that I enjoyed, including parks, streets and cemeteries and slowly increased the kilometers.
\n<\/p>\n

Over the first lockdown<\/strong> me and running became very intertwined, those days when we were only allowed to go out for an hour’s exercise my runs became so important, it wasn’t just exercise any more<\/strong> it was the only other thing I was doing out of my top floor flat.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Cut to February 2021<\/strong>, after a knee injury and a spell of not running due to dark wet days of lockdown 3 I booked a 1\/2 marathon for a cause that is so important!<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Freedom for Girls<\/strong><\/a> tackles period inequalities from people not being able to afford sanitary products to educating everyone to try to eradicating the stigma attached to periods.<\/div>\n
\"Runner<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

I have just completed that 1\/2 marathon!<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

It was hard!<\/strong><\/div>\n
There were exhilarating highs (two to be exact) and sluggish lows, mental battles and from 16km onwards I didn’t think I would make it.<\/div>\n
But I did it in just over 2hrs.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

My medal is now hanging off my bed post!<\/em><\/div>\n
My relationship with running is unlike anything else in my life, each and every time I put my trainers on I feel reluctance and anxious but that first 30 seconds with Cyndi Lauper on my head phones and I am so relieved that I pushed myself out the door.<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Never being someone that has enjoyed sport or any type of fitness (apart from dancing) three years ago, 30 was fast approaching. I joined a gym and reluctantly got on the cross trainer. I wasn’t enjoying it or getting the results I wanted so switched to the running machine. Everyday 3-4 times a week I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2955,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6247"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2955"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6247"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6251,"href":"https:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6247\/revisions\/6251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}