SIX WOMEN TELL DIVA ABOUT BIG CHANGES IN THEIR LIVES

WORDS DANIELLE MUSTARDE

In 2017, I threw everything I owned into a rental van, left the city I’d just begun to call home and drove myself four hours south to London to move into a house I’d never visited with three people I’d never met, to begin a brand new job. Oh, and I ended a three-and-ahalf year relationship on top of all of that. Was it scary? Damn straight. Was it worth it? 100%.

As we see in 2019 and whispers of new year’s resolutions ill our lovely ears, DIVA chats to six women who’ve made signiicant, positive changes to their lives. We ask them about the what, why and hows of changing your life for the better…

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Iron woman

Linda Rowe is from Dalkeith. She had split from a 14-year relationship, was “overweight, had no energy and was fast approaching 45” when she first heard about Tough Mudder – a 10 to 12-mile mud-illed obstacle race.

“After discovering Tough Mudder, I didn’t think I’d ever get to a stage where I’d be able to take part. But I took the bull by the horns and, in early 2015, organised a small team of work colleagues to enter. At the same time, I started to read up on nutrition and itness… that was the beginning of my obsession.

“Right after Tough Mudder, I entered myself into the Edinburgh Half Marathon, and since then I’ve competed in a couple of full marathons, a 70.3-mile triathlon and a 140.6-mile triathlon…Oh, and I took part in the television show Ninja Warrior!”

What were the key steps you took to achieve your goal?

At the beginning, I thought I had to already be “fit” to join a gym or club, so I took on training and nutrition myself. After beginning with crossfit exercises at home and building up to short runs outside, I eventually joined my local gym. That’s when I realised there were all different people at all different fitness levels there. In short, I needn’t have had that fear at the beginning.

What was the biggest challenge you faced and how did you overcome it?

Working on a full year’s training plan for a full Ironman (140-mile triathlon) in 2018, as well as the Spartan Ultra Beast (30-mile mud event with 70 obstacles) was tough going as I have a demanding job – juggling both took over my life. Most weekends, I would be training for up to nine hours a day – just getting over the line wasn’t enough.

Looking back, was it all worth it?