You can't train for a marathon every single day

In my catch-ups with our Aussie Olympic athletes since they’ve been back, I’ve asked them all; “What’s been the hardest part of your career?”

The answer that really struck me was from marathon runner Lisa Weightman. For Lisa, the 9 weeks of quarantine, travelling, competing, and quarantining again that was required to make the Tokyo games, all of which took her away from her family, was the hardest thing.?

In quarantine back here in Australia, she was another of the athletes who took part in GoDaddy’s quarantine program to help Lisa and our other athletes develop their businesses and help manage their online presence simply and easily.

You see, with everything, there’s always highs and lows. The economy has booms and busts. We have? personal highs and lows. Periods of high motivation and periods of rest.

In the words of Lisa Weightman, “you can’t train for a marathon every single day.”

It’s the same for me. I have to take time out every now and then. If you want to work at your peak, then you can’t afford to run yourself into the ground. You have to make time for the other things that sustain you…

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How’d you start out with running Lisa? What do you love about it?

I started running with my dad and sister as a teenager. Dad realised I had a good engine and was convinced I’d follow in former Aussie Marathon runner, Lisa Ondieki’s footsteps. He was right.

I really struggled with injury when I was younger, but when I moved into a structured full-time role later in my 20s, that’s when I was able to cope with the stress of training and everything worked a lot better then.

I ran my first marathon in London in 2008 and qualified for the Beijing games and since then I haven’t looked back. 4 Olympics and 2 Commonwealth medals later plus a young son and I couldn’t be prouder. I love running with my husband and pushing my limits on how fast I can be. That’s what I love most about my sport.

How’ve you adjusted back to everyday life after Tokyo?

Hotel Quarantine was really unkind to the body. I was extremely sore when I started to run again after quarantine and it has taken quite a while to be ready for another training block. On the flip side, the time away from a rigorous schedule has given me more time to support my son through the final months of home school down here in Melbourne, focus on my team at IBM, and kickstart my personal business goals.

There’s more to life than just running that’s for sure.

What’s been the hardest moment for you with your athletic career?

9.5 weeks away from my home and beautiful family was the most challenging thing I’ve ever had to do in my career. I perform best when we’re together, I’m just not someone who likes to focus on themselves.

I’m more at home when I’m taking care of others and to be alone in Tokyo without my husband, coach and son took its toll.

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I know a lot of entrepreneurs who are completely obsessed with their business. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, but from what I’ve learnt in my businesses, you need to have other things going on outside of that.?

If not for your own sanity, then to have some time to “breathe” and reflect on your business. If you’re always stuck in the weeds with day-to-day problems, you’ll never be able to step back and think of any solutions.

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Tell us a bit about your business? What was the impetus for you to get started coaching and speaking?

Running has never been my profession. It’s not something I’ve been able to come close to making a living from. At IBM Services (where I’ve been working for 19 years!) I lead our Custom and Data Managed Services area. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to speak to IBMers around the globe and many of our clients and business partners about high performance, resilience, how to prioritise your passion and how to get the best out of yourself despite the challenges that come our way.

For me my greatest skill is not about teaching others how to run, but about showing others that they can be amazing and high performing at any passion that they set their mind to and that in most cases fear is what holds us back.?

With any business, you need to be clear on your vision. It’s your guiding star. If you ever lose your way, anchoring back to your vision and making sure it rings true is important. For me, it’s about sharing my skills and experiences to help others - helping others is really what I love.

What’s the biggest lesson from your athletic career that you apply to work and your speaking business?

In most cases, not in every case, but in most, if you put in the hard work and plan, plan, plan you will reap benefits. In some cases it will be the PB or the record sales numbers, in other cases it will be a relationship built or a silver medal. All are great outcomes, so with hard work comes achievement.

The second is take regular breaks to replenish. You cannot train for a marathon week after week, year after year.?

It’s hard taking a few months off and coming back to a training block or business, but there’s times where you need to allow yourself the space to be creative, rebuild and try a new strategy.