Runner's World Fat Burn feature: what's that all about then?!

If you subscribe to Runner's World UK, by now you will have had your June issue through the post (if you don't, it should be in the shops by end of this week). The regular Fat Burn feature (page 25) is about me this month! How did that happen?!

This is a bit weird 

Back in mid November I spotted a tweet from @runnersworlduk asking for people to get in touch if they'd lost a lot of weight through running and to send before and after photos. I saw it just as I was heading out of the door to collect my children from school. I assumed they would have had loads of replies by the time I saw their tweet, so I wasn't holding my breath about getting a reply and I didn't want to waste too much time finding photos. I fired off a short email saying that yes I had lost weight through running and directed them to a blog post I'd written a month earlier (Why I Started Running...) that included some before and after photos.

The next morning, just as I was stepping out of the door to take my children to school (it doesn't get any more interesting folks), I received a reply: "Would I like to be featured?"; attached was an example of the type of feature they meant. After a quick email discussion with my husband, I agreed. I sent off some high-resolution "before" photos for them to choose from.

The next week I received a list of questions by email to answer. Being the sort of person who likes to chat, I returned an essay (all quality though) to the section editor, my thoughts being that she'd have plenty of quotes to choose from. I was told I'd been penciled into the June issue, but I work in publishing so know how things can change; I wasn't holding my breath on that date or even on eventual publication. I was informed the photographer would be in touch in the New Year to arrange a date to take my photo, but otherwise that was all I had to do. 2 weeks after sending the initial email, it was all over with. I'd managed to tell only a handful of close friends too (out of fear of it all falling through I didn't dare tell more people; I didn't even tell my cousin or my in-law family).

I tried really hard to eat sensibly over Christmas, in case I was contacted by the photographer in January. By February I was at my lowest weight for over a year! By March I was beginning to think they'd forgotten about me. I have some idea about publishing timelines because of where I work. I knew that if I was going to be in the June issue it would be out at the end of April, and they'd need to pass the issue at least 2 weeks before then. I had a holiday booked the first 2 weeks of April (when I guessed they would try to take the photo). So I emailed the section editor again to find out what was going on and to let her know when I was away, in case she had to arrange a photo sooner. Yes, I was right! Fortunately I managed to arrange for the photographer Tom (@photosmudger) to come the afternoon before I went on holiday. Talk about last minute!

My friend Claire (Barberella) offered to put my hair up for me in the morning, she did a fabulous job!

I cannot keep a straight face when asked to pose for a photo

A couple of hours later, Tom arrived. He set up a studio in my conservatory, white paper background and covering the floor, lights either side, it was such a fun half hour really (it honestly didn't take that long!). He snapped away for about 10 minutes, making me try different poses, putting me at ease until I'd lost the urge to burst out laughing.

Setting up the "photography studio" in my conservatory

All in all, a rather pleasant experience. It's really nice to be able to tell my story to a wider audience, hopefully it will inspire a few more people to start running. And I'm so happy that Stotfold Runners got such a large mention. Pete and the other club members are a big influence in my life, they got me started and now I can pass on what I've learnt to our beginners. And my husband, who has just taken up running (he's faster than I am over 5K already, typical!).