Living the simpElle life: Iain

Welcome again to this mini series – Living the simpElle life – where I talk to someone who has inspired me with their story. 

I heard a great phrase recently – 

“The Universe is made up of stories, not of atoms”

– so that is what I want to share with you, stories, to open up the Universe to us all! 

Each individual we meet embodies what this blog is about. They have dug deep to find motivation, they have sought inspiration and in doing so become inspirational to others. They have been empowered with knowledge to change and that is what their story will do for the rest of us…

Living the simpElle life

Meet: Iain Killoughery  

Iain 🙂

I met Iain a few years ago whilst working at London South Bank University. In the last few months being there, just 3 of us shared an office so we would chat a lot about what was going on with us. One of the funniest fitness chats we had was about running; Alicia (our other office buddy) challenged Iain to a lunchtime run…and somehow I got taken along for the ride! …needless to say, Iain was pretty quick on his feet and refused to go running with us again!

Have a read about Iain’s journey…

– {THEN} –

Elle: What made you decide to start training / running? …What was your plan / goals?

IK:  There were two main reasons. Firstly, my brother has always wanted to do a marathon and its always been on my bucket list too. Graham finds it much easier to train with someone else to help his motivation and I find I get much better results when I have someone there to push me along too. 

Secondly, my friend approached me about helping to recruit people to run in the Richmond Half Marathon. So it gave me a perfect opportunity to set a goal to work towards. This was a good period before the full marathon so seemed like a good initial goal. I did the half marathon in about 1h54m which was slower than my target but made me appreciate the difficulty of the end goal I have set. 

race day 🙂

– {HOW} –

Elle: What’s your favourite way to work out? 

IK:  I prefer short and sharp sessions in the gym. Weights sessions I enjoy more as you can vary these activities, areas of your body, go for power instead of stamina etc. I think this easier and its helpful to vary what you do. 

Elle: What’s your typical weekly exercise schedule? 

IK: At the moment, I don’t really have one. I’m finding it difficult to fit training in around work and studying for my Masters Degree. But the important thing is to get out there and do something. Even if its a short session, its still beneficial. When I finish the marathon training, i’ll go back to morning sessions as these are more productive than after work or late at tonight.

Elle: What / who has been your inspiration? 

IK: My failure at the half marathon is my inspiration. My body was not ready for it, so I struggled. My mind also struggled as I wanted to give up. I’m more prepared now and I never want to feel like that again.

Elle:  What was the first big difference in you, that made you feel proud and excited? 

IK: People are noticing that im losing weight and have been very complimentary about my efforts. I’m also raising money as part of the marathon and there has been a huge response to my fundraising efforts.

Iain’s progress pics from early 2013

Iain’s progress pics from early 2013

Elle:  Did you make any changes to your diet once you started training?

IK: I’ve just tried to keep it structured with three solid meals a day and have them as balanced meals. I’ve been more concious of my food than normal and especially with regards to the timing of meals as this has a big effect on my ability to run long distances. I got my meal time wrong before I went on a planned 3 hour run once and I ran for an hour with a pain in my stomach. Eventually I had to stop, so now I know to time this correctly. 

– {NOW} – 

Elle:  How do you track your progress? 

IK: I’ve been using a Nike+ running app to check distances, times and average speeds. My progress has been up and down, but I’ve found it interesting to see how my body feels on different days and the times I’ve been running. This helps me to think about what contributed to poor runs or good ones.

Elle:  Have your goals changed since you started your journey? 

IK: Yes, I’ve revaluated how fast I can finish the marathon. My goal has changed from having a target time, to managing my body through the event and feeling strong throughout. This may sacrifice pace but it is a more realistic goal to have.

Elle: How do you keep yourself motivated? 

IK: I’ve given myself a reward at the end of the event so on completion I’ll have something to look forward to. I am also running the event with other people and don’t want to let them down so this also keeps me going. 

Elle: If you could go back and give advice to the “before” you…or any other person contemplating changing their lifestyle…what would you say?!

IK: If its something completely new to you, then be flexible with your goals. You don’t know how your body will react, but changing your lifestyle will inevitably have consequences and some of these may be a surprise. You’ll have ups and downs throughout your training and there will be days when you feel strong and days when you don’t. The important thing is to keep your program ticking over. Doing something is better than nothing, so if you cant do the whole of your planned session, do part of it. 

See?! …inspirational huh?! 

If you’d like to leave Iain a comment below please do! You can also donate to Iain’s fundraising for The British Heart Foundation to run the Las Vegas Marathon! 

…and if you have a story you would like to share just get in touch! {Contact Elle}

Keep living that simpElle life 😉 

Elle 🙂