Lizzie Dimond knows how to dig herself out of a running goal. The multi-distance, super speedy, runner from south Wales has developed some excellent strategies over the years for keeping the negative thoughts at bay on race day…
Words: Rachel Ifans
Lizzie Dimond
Lizzie Dimond started running in order to get fitter for her wedding. That was back in 2017 and although she’d been a dance teacher for six years back then, she wouldn’t have put herself in the ‘fit’ category at the time. She made her own couch-to-5K plan which saw her snatching as much time as possible to pop out for runs around her local lake in between looking after her kids, but the thing she remembers most vividly is all the bodily challenges that cropped up during those first few months of training.
She says: “I learnt a lot with regards to chafing – that was a real lesson! Also, I didn’t know anything about fuelling, so I’d do things like have a roast dinner and go for a run and wonder why I got horrible indigestion.
“Quite honestly, though, it was the pelvic floor situation that was something else!” she laughs. “I didn’t understand how anyone could run without wetting themselves. I used to come home and my husband would point out that I stank and send me off to the shower!” No worries, Lizzie, you’re in a safe place now. There’s absolutely no shame here when it comes to bodies and running.
It may have been a bit of a bumpy start, but slowly and surely, Lizzie settled into a rhythm. “First, I found Tena Lady,” she chuckles, “and then I just worked on building up my resilience. I listened to my body and went with it.”
In fact, by the time she got to the Cardiff Half Marathon nine months later, she was beginning to wonder if she actually wasn’t pretty good at this running lark.
A need for speed
The Cardiff Half went well and Lizzie relished the run around the city centre and enjoyed the support from family and enthusiastic crowds. So much so that she decided to enter her first full marathon straight off the bat: the Great Welsh Marathon, which was held in Llanelli the next spring. The thing is, when Lizzie says she likes running fast, she is not kidding. It was her first marathon and she did it in 3:12 (qualifying for London) and came in as second female.
She remembers: “I ran with a guy that I met on the course called Rob. We ran the whole
