Another one of our amazing girls 🥰
Hi ladies, I’m Fiona Oakes and I joined the Jiggly Joggers in January 2020.
I’m 44 years old, married to Peter for 17 years but been childhood sweethearts since I was 16. We have 10 year old twin girls, Maya and Lily. They’re beautiful young ladies that never cease to amaze me yet can unleash psycho mum in seconds! As a family we love Halloween and Christmas, any excuse for a party (preCovid), as well as getting our Disney fix.
I work in a secondary school in North Lanarkshire as Principal Teacher of Science. It’s a job I absolutely love and there are never two days the same - certainly very true this past year, never expected to be teaching live lessons from a desk in my bedroom 🤣! It’s also one of the biggest stresses in my life as I find it hard to shut off from it at night /weekends.
Jiggly Joggers helps me to reprioritise and refocus as running gives me the head space to do that. It gives me some time away as well as getting fitter along the way.
When I joined last year I hadn’t ran since PE at school. I’ve only ever really stuck to a diet and exercise routine for my wedding and trying to get pregnant. So when my pal Nicola Bradshaw suggested I should go along with her and Emma McLuskey, I thought I’d go for the first few sessions and if it wasn’t for me I’d just make some excuse not to go back. I was so nervous and worrying about how I was going to manage to run 60 seconds. So when I completed my C25K graduation in March last year I was so proud of myself that I burst into tears as I crossed the finish line. The ‘back of the pack’ girls supported me the whole way, making sure I paced myself so that I could run all of it - thank you. What a fabulous lunch, well gins, we had to celebrate afterwards. Looking forward to more socialising when we can!
Lockdown and being thrust into the world of online teaching meant my running journey was put on hold. However in true Maw Jiggly style, Elaine reached out during the Summer and offered to come out and help me get back into it. It did mean starting the C25K program again but I’m very grateful for this as I was envious watching Nicola and Emma go on to complete their 10k and it would have been easy to walk away (well actually you’re not allowed to unless you can run faster than them and there’s no chance of that for me 😉). Next steps for me is to focus on a healthier lifestyle to accompany my Jiggly commitment. I’ve met some fantastic and inspirational women and can’t wait to meet more of you in person. For now I’m having a great time running in pairs with my fellow jigglys and my Sunday buddy Katie - getting fit, improving my 5K and having a laugh doing it.
Jiggly Joggers is so much more than a running group and should come with a warning that it will change your life! X https://static.wixstatic.com/media/837532_003c9bf3906148e1b43314855d56c717~mv2.jpg