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This Girl is not for Quitting!

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Felicity Douglas is one very gutsy and determine lady! A mother of 4 x very active teens, a wife, a business owner, an  inspirational BEXI (Beauty of Exercise) runner… and also someone who has Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Her world was rocked 10yrs ago when she was diagnosed, but with the support of her family, friends and a fiercely ‘I-will-succeed’ attitude – Felicity has gone on to accomplish a huge number achievements in her life.

Below is Felicity’s recent account of her awesome PB at the SMH Half-Marathon:

Early Sunday morning I lined up for the SMH Half Marathon. The race had been a long time coming! I had commenced training with the Canberra Race-Fit crew in January but had not traveled to Canberra.

Training had been a mixed bag, full commitment is hard with 4 kids and work, but you need to accept that you can only do what you can. I love the Race-Fit training and was very inspired by the other BEXI Runners. I lined up in the Blue (fast) start – this was ambitious, but starting in the slower group the previous year proved frustratingly slow.

After a fast start… I was feeling fantastic and confident of a great time until I hit about the 12-14km mark. The quick start and the hills then caught up with me. I was hitting the wall – and literally had to repeat my mantra “one foot after another”. I didn’t give up… much as I wanted to. Other runners were very encouraging.

About 2km to the finish I was almost at a crawl. I stopped to ‘reset’ – stretching my arms in the air. A fellow runner called out “go on you can do it”… I took off to finish my race on my terms. Stumbling across the line into the arms of 2 first-aiders… but not before stopping my watch at the credible 1:52 time (7:30min PB!). The poor fellows were dumbstruck that I was more interested in my PB than being able to stand up!

I want to remind you all that so much of your race is in your head. I was aiming for a pleasant sub-2hr half-marathon but went all-out when I felt great on the day. Thank you Debbie and my fellow BEXI Runners for all the support and training. Love the BEXI support network!

Now bring on Gold Coast Half-Marathon! They tell me it’s flat and I now have a sub 1:45 to chase.

Felicity Douglas
1:52 Half-Marathoner
Inspirational BEXI Runner

SMH Half-Marathon

SMH Half-Marathon

 

Camaraderie at the Fore

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The Oxford English Dictionary defines Camaraderie as ‘the mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together’.

That is exactly what our community at Beauty of Exercise (BEXI) is all about. We support each other through the lo’s, celebrate the hi’s… or just have a good laugh with each other.  

A perfect example was at our interval training session earlier in the week. We had three groups training together – 1) Run-FIT; 2) Race-FIT half-marathoners; and  3) Race-FIT marathoners. It was a very tough session – 2km | 1.5km | 1km | 800m – all at fast tempo paces. The final 800m rep was intended for the marathon group only.  The other two groups were gloating that they had finished and didn’t have to do another rep… until they noticed their ‘buddies’ getting ready for the last rep. Not wanting to leave them unsupported, they jumped up and rallied around them for their final 800m rep.

This truly highlighted what an awesome Beauty of Exercise community we have fostered over the past 3yrs. One which is filled with a great sense of camaraderie, team support, motivation and inspiration. Our BEXI community are always there for each other – if someone needs a buddy to run with, we are there to support them. If someone is having a bad day, we are there to lift them up. If someone  is lacking motivation, we are there to inspire them. The true spirit of our BEXI community. That’s what makes us so special. That’s what we love so much!

Debbie Solms

Debbie Solms is an accredited Personal Trainer, Run Coach and founder of Beauty of Exercise – an inspiring women’s running group on Sydney’s Northern Beaches