This month Focuses on one of our most well known and loved Athlete’s, Sheila Bradley.

Thank you Sheila for giving us a super insight into your running career.  I’m sure everyone will enjoy reading it.  You are star.  So grab yourself a cuppa, a beer, a gin and a slice of cake, sit back end enjoy the read. It’s brilliant!

1st of all, thank you for taking the interview.

1. Would you tell us a little about yourself in relation to the Club?
   
   I joined within a few days of arriving to live in Buxton in 1989, and since then have been part of the committee, holding various roles, predominantly Club Secretary covering Membership, Communication, Committee Meeting Minutes.
   I first organised the Carnival Race in the early 1990s, along with Malc Brown, and was involved in helping at the Half Marathon from 1989 and have continued to help in most years right up to date. Jim and I organised the Carnival Race in the late 1990s for several years, and then in 2012 we started the Pavilion Gardens 5K. Together, we’ve organised the Club Races – the Club Fell race held in the Goyt Valley, the Club Cross Country held at Grin Low, the Fletcher Cup handicap race from the mid 1990s, and from around 2009/10 organised and held the Mile race, which was renamed Jim’s Dream On Mile in 2012.
   I organised the Club Christmas Party from the early 1990s, and other social events, weekends away, nights out and have tried to keep Club Nights going throughout the year, trying to motivate Club Members and maintain the Club ethos of turn backs on Club runs to help everyone feel part of the team. I was Cross Country Secretary from the mid 1990s up until a couple of years ago, and am once again taking over the reins from Sue this next season.
   I’ve seen the Club going through peaks & troughs, from a membership of around 40/50 in the late 1980s, growing to around 100 in the 1990s-2000s, and then to the present 170/180 in the past few years.
   Although I stood down as Club Secretary just recently, I’m still on the Committee and hope to continue to play an active part in the organisation of the Club, with the 5K and cross country, plus helping Jim with the weekly Press Reports for the Advertiser and the Club website.
2. When, why and how did you start your running career? Based on your own experience what advice would you give to a new runner just starting out?
   

   A trainer offered to help a group of us to start running at the gym in 1986 when I lived in Swindon, I joined in and when my then partner told me I’d never stick at it, it was like a red rag to a bull – 33 years later I like to think I’ve proved him wrong! We started with running a mile, and within a couple of months we’d all done a 7 mile race and a couple of months later, we all ran our first half marathon – and I was over the moon to run 1.48. I’ve never looked back, it was the best thing I ever did in my life (other than marrying Jim!). My advice to new runners is to take it steady, build up slowly and don’t expect too much of your body too soon. Don’t over-race (or over-train for that matter), and remember there will always be runners who are faster than you and there will always be runners behind you. If you’re injured, STOP running until your injury is going (this is a case of do as I say, not as I do). Run for YOU, and no-one else don’t be pressured to do things that your body is telling you not to. Most of all, if you take to running, and not everyone does, then you will have a lifetime of enjoyment, fitness, friendship and a positive outlook – and you can eat/drink to your heart’s content!

3. What is your favourite and your hardest training session?
   

   I really enjoy Terry’s speed sessions, and relish some good hill reps even though I find them really tough. When the Club does a tough session round the streets in the winter months, it’s always hard but I get a real buzz afterwards, knowing I’ve worked as hard as I can.

4. What is the main benefit you get from running?
   

   Apart from allowing me to eat (& drink!) more or less what I want, the main benefit is that it keeps me sane and helps me feel that I’ve got some control in my life at the times when things aren’t going smoothly. Friendship and sociability are other important benefits that I’ve enjoyed over the years of running.

5. What keeps you going when you’re going through a bad patch (injury, low motivation, disappointing results etc.)?
   

   I can honestly say I’ve never had low motivation when it comes to running, whatever the weather, whatever session is to be done (that’s not to say I’ve never jibbed when it’s hammering it down outside!). Injury time means cross training, always useful to maintain strength and hopefully aerobic fitness. Disappointing results tend to give me more determination to work harder, tinged with being realistic as I get older because the older I get, the slower I’m getting and having to adjust my goals.

6. What do you value the most about being a Member of a running Club?
   

   I absolutely love being part of Buxton AC, have right from joining in 1989, everyone was so welcoming, and loved belonging to the other clubs I ran with before then. There’s the camaraderie, being with like-minded people who share the same outlook and interests. It’s fantastic to see how we all work so well as a team, and being able to enjoy our beautiful Peak District countryside together. Seeing new runners come along and watching them discover the same delights, and the beginners whose lives are transformed by such a simple thing as running.

7. What is your favourite type of running and why? What is your favourite race and why?
   

   I love off-road running/training – there’s always a sense of relaxation, working hard without really knowing that you’re building up strength & stamina. I like all races (afterwards!) just don’t always relish the nerves beforehand. Cross country is probably my favourite racing discipline (no surprise to anyone there then), it’s fast, it’s full-on, it’s tough but it’s such a silly thing to do, all that mud, all that effort – but I love it, even though I’m getting way slower and further down the field as I get older. It appeals to the child in me – wallowing in mud and not worrying about getting filthy dirty.

8. Have you ever had a “nightmare” when racing? What happened and how did you overcome it? Did you finish the race? Did you learn from it? Can you laugh about it now?
   
   Yes! Manchester Marathon when I had terrible cramp from about 17 miles, just kept going running & walking, and managed to finish in 4 hours 10 – I learned that fatigue/cramp is made worse if you take in too many gels! I’ve had a few others when it just wasn’t happening for me on the day and had to drop out, but not many over the many years of racing, and it’s best to be realistic and chalk it down to experience.
9. If you could pick a day when you could stand on the start line of any race in England knowing you would win it outright as you have been given “magic legs” for the day – Which race would you choose and why?
   

   London Marathon – iconic, well supported by thousands of people – and the one that non-runners ask if you’ve ever run, so to say yes (and I have, three times) but to say I’d won it would be the dream of a lifetime.

10. What’s the most memorable race you’ve entered?
    

    Ben Nevis Mountain Race.

11. What is your typical training week?
    

    Injury-recovery aside, usually 4 or 5 times a week, including some steady running, brisk sessions, a speed or hill session and an LSD session at the weekend.

12. & FINALLY – What is your main running related goal for 2019?
    

    To fully recover from my knee injury and slowly but surely return to some sort of race speed, and continue to get the huge amount of enjoyment from my running that I’ve had over the past 33 years.

Cheers Sheila and thank you so much Sue