“I didn’t want to lose that identity of having been a management consultant and what went with that” - says Karen Weir during this interview on About The Adventure Podcast. The focus of this episode is on Karen's career change from working as a management consultant to becoming a personal trainer, and a running and triathlon coach. She emphasises how her relationship with running has changed over time, and that she's now "training for old age." She also tells us about how her Masters in Coaching Science is going, the proposed topic for her dissertation, and about the transition from city life to living in the Peak District. At the end, Karen puts a question to listeners who might be thinking about a career change into sport coaching or training.
“It’s never too late to make a start.”
In this episode I interviewed Karen Weir, who is a running & triathlon coach and PT. She is also the founder of RunWell, and a parkrun ambassador and pioneer - one of the original 13! Karen shares how running has made a difference to her life, why her approach to work hasn’t changed since she left her job in London, what learning curves she has noted along the way, and about her involvement with parkrun and RunWell.
Here’s the full list of questions that I asked Karen:
How has running made a difference to your life?
What transformations do you see in the people that you coach and train?
How has your approach to work changed since you left your job in London?
What do you think have been the biggest learning curves for you since you started offering your coaching and training services?
Where did you discover your passion for running?
How do you separate your own training and running from working with other people?
What’s your experience of being involved with Park Run?
Why did you set up RunWell and what’s your involvement with it now?
Where do you hope that your Masters in Coaching Science will lead?
What are you enjoying and finding challenging about the course?
Do you feel a sense of adventure living here in the Peak District?
How would you approach working with somebody who wants to run but worries it’s too late in life to make a start?
What question would you ask someone who is thinking about a career change into sport coaching or training?
Tune in to this episode of About The Adventure Podcast on the player below, or click one of these links through to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, About The Adventure website, listen on your favourite app, or download it here.
I think that this interview will be particularly valuable if you're thinking about:
a career change towards becoming a personal trainer, running or triathlon coach
getting into running or fitness training
working with a running or triathlon coach
getting involved with park run
moving from a city to the countryside
looking after your overall wellbeing alongside training
I first met Karen at a Hope Valley Business Zoo Networking event at The Gathering in Edale, and I've been following her on Instagram and Facebook ever since. She hosts running holidays in the Peak District and abroad which always look amazing!
This episode was recorded at The Bothy, Cafe Adventure in Hope by Sarah Lister on 26th August 2021 and edited by Gabby Wolstenholme.
References during this episode include:
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Podcast music is by Tsarzi and podcast artwork by Tiffany-Francis Baker.