The London Marathon. Interview with Nicky.

This time we have decided to try a new way of doing the blog and have decided to do an interview. So this blog post has been written based on the answers to the questions we gave Nicky and the discussion between her and Amy:  

Nicky has always been visually impaired and has not known any different. She finds reading and writing very difficult and uses a guide dog to help her to get out and about and stay as independent as possible. However she hates shopping and does most of her shopping online. Her two favourite pieces of equipment are her iPad and her Apple watch. She told me that she doesn’t know where she would be without them. She uses her apple watch to give herself daily goals and achieve them. 

Nicky had always wanted to run, but never thought it was possible because of her sight loss. She was visiting the gym one day and spoke to her gym instructor at the time, Craig. He said to Nicky “We can do that”.

With his motivation and support she started running and her love and confidence for it grew. She worked her way up to doing at 10K race in preparation for a half marathon. The opportunity then came along through SRSB for Nicky to take part in the London Marathon. She had always watched the London Marathon on TV but never even dreamed that one day she would be running it herself. Craig really had boosted Nicky’s confidence and helped her to stop doubting herself and her abilities. She describes him as ‘the lovely Craig’. He guided her while she was running the marathon. Since doing the London Marathon Nicky has taken part in three more 10K races. 

She hasn’t always been an active person. Around ten years ago it came to a point in her life when she realised that she needed to do more exercise. She had been yo-yo dieting for years and had realised that she should work on her fitness. Her sight problems had always been a big barrier with this. Gyms can be very daunting places, especially when you are visually impaired. So she felt like there were a lot of things that she couldn’t do, or that would be too difficult. 

As well as running Nicky also enjoys tandem riding, walking and swimming. She also enjoys going to the cinema. 

She enjoys using the Ponds Forge gym in Sheffield because it is easy to get to and she has got to know the instructors quite well. I asked Nicky if more support was needed to help visually impaired people get into exercise and fitness. She told me that the support she got at Ponds Forge was very good, but other gyms and leisure centres vary a lot when it comes to understanding disabilities and offering the right support. Some are really good and some are awful. She said that it would be helpful if any existing VI gym members would make themselves available to show potential new gym users around and introduce them to people. This might help them to feel less alone and they would have somebody to chat to.

Nicky is unsure of her future in running as she is due to have surgery on her knee. She thinks that she will probably no longer be able to run, but she is staying positive and is going to take up tandem riding instead. 

She feels that she has gained a lot of confidence from doing the marathon, and she now believes that she can do anything if she puts her mind to it. She feels comfortable with leaving her life in somebody else’s hands and just having fun. 

On a personal note I heard Nicky’s story a few years ago on the news and she is the one that inspired me to take up trampolining again. I realised that if somebody who is visually impaired can run the London Marathon, then I have no excuse to not at least try trampolining. So thank you so much Nicky for sharing your story, inspiring me, and no doubt inspiring many others too. 
Amy.