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I’m Georgina. I’ve been “running” for about 5 years now. I say “running” because for the first few years I only really plodded. I ran 5 and 10k races, and went to a running club, but never really pushed myself to run fast. Speed work at my local club was more of an inconvenient interruption to a good conversation about cake than a means to a faster race time, and races were more about the medal and the tea and cake after than a new PB.

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In 2010 I decided to train for my first marathon, the inaugural Brighton Marathon. I’d recently recovered from a few minor injuries, and had bought a pair of custom orthotics which were meant to eliminate all my running niggles, and they did. Until, just a few weeks into my marathon training I developed a stress fracture. On a supposedly non-weight-bearing bone.

My running put on hold I focused on getting ready to start my next big adventure… quitting my full time office job to start a sports therapy degree. From when I first started running (after having given up smoking and partying and deciding to shift my spare tyre from sitting at a desk all day) I had loved reading and hearing about anatomy, physiology and, my personal favourite, biomechanics. So, with an 8 year business career put behind me, I joined a group of teenage freshers learning how to assess injuries, provide sports massage, and all the anatomy, physics and energy systems you could handle.

After a year of struggling to make ends meet, I made the hard decision to return to full time office work, with the promise of an attractive salary and the prospect of buying my first home with my long term boyfriend proving too much to keep me at my full time studies, despite getting top grades. Leaving with a certificate of higher education, and a full sports massage qualification, I set up my part time sports therapy business as a sideline to keep my interest piqued.

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I returned to running at the end of 2011, and with all I’d learned I began to work harder at club sessions and was soon running better than I ever had. In 2012 I decided once again to train for the Brighton Marathon, juggling training with a full time career, part time sports therapy business, and the purchase of our first home. Busy was an understatement.

I completed the marathon, missing out on my target time by a miserable seven minutes, and I felt defeated. My passion for running was dwindling and I tried desperately to pick it up. I entered race after race, and began to read blogs for motivation. It was these blogs that made me realise what I really loved. The community feel of training. Whether it’s running in a club after a long day at work, gathering before a class to deliberate what torture the instructor is going to put you through today, or blogging about a race where it all went horribly wrong and your Garmin played up – people are what make exercise so much fun.

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My running picked up again and off the back of my marathon training I achieved PBs at 5k, 10k, 10mile and sprint triathlon, as well as my debuts at half marathon, 20 mile, marathon and an Olympic distance tri. All this earned me the Female Senior award at my local running club, one of my proudest fitness moments.

That same year, in September, I launched Fitcetera, wanting to share my love for trying new fitness concepts and my passion for stylish apparel, confess my clumsy nature and geek out with science and gadgets.

Now, with running more of a social thing (other than the odd obstacle race which I always love!) and CrossFit becoming my training of choice, I hope to be able to provide motivation to other busy working professionals who just want to escape in this wonderful world of fitness, fun, beautiful leggings, etcetera… fitcetera.