London Marathon

Marathon Training

Well after pounding the streets of Lanarkshire and covering literally hundreds of miles throughout my marathon training.......the Big London Marathon Day is finally here. Yes, on Sunday, 25th April 2010 I run my final 26.2 miles around the City of London. At this moment in time I feel elated with excitement and I am raring to go. I have been tapering off for the last 2 weeks and packing in the carbs at every opportunity.....yummy pasta, pasta and well more pasta!! I can honestly say I am geared up to go and feel positive about completing the tough challenge ahead.


New York

I completed my first marathon in New York City in November 2007 and that wonderful memory will last me a lifetime.......I often draw on this amazing experience when I need to encourage and motivate myself to take inspired action. Quite funnily enough, I did say at the end of the New York Marathon that “I would never run a marathon again”.... and if I ever dared to say that, then that person had the permission to shoot me!! Not literally off course but just so it emphasised the sheer pain I felt on my way to achieving that goal...the last 4 miles are a real killer!!

But off course last year on 26th April 2009 I received a phone call from a friend telling me to watch the London Marathon on TV, I did and well it changed my life again!! I was completely inspired and it brought back all those “champion” feelings of achieving my first marathon. Yes, the road is extremely tough but only when you have felt the pain can you really appreciate the true glory.

So I was hooked again....taking action immediately and committing myself to this challenge. You can watch this in real time video from my video blogs recorded live on 26th and 27th April last year........I first committed then remained disciplined and determined to achieve this goal.

The Challenges

Well they are never far away when you are training for a marathon and putting your body through the extremes of the training. First there is the weather, well in Scotland the phrase “4 seasons in one day” was definitely made for us Scots!!

First there was the torrential rain, then the freezing ice, then the month or so of snow blizzards followed by hail stones but more like falling golf balls, not to mention the hurricane force winds and oh yes topped off with a little sunshine.

Secondly there was the time factor, training 6/7 days for about 6 months really eats into your daily schedule and not to mention my ‘social life’... it just ain’t worth it, running with a hangover!!

Thirdly there were the early mornings, oh how I struggled to get up at 5am to do some early running before the start of a busy day........and off course if I didn’t there was the late nights, running sometimes at 11pm at night!!

The Wins

This is by far the best part. I am well on my way to raising hundreds of pounds for Alzheimer Scotland; I am feeling great, focused, energetic and positive........my whole general wellbeing is excellent. I am working in alignment with my values and loving the journey. I have the most amazing support from my family and friends.........some who I have inspired to take up a similar challenge in the future.

So by someone else taking action and phoning me last year........it snowballed into all of this. You see just one small step like that phone call from my friend, turned into the most amazing of things........go and create the opportunities and make the positivity happen!!

If you wish to support my fundraising for Alzheimer Scotland you can do so by accessing the link below:

http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/ClaireMurray-GinaHagan

Thank you for your valued support.

Claire Murray

Dream Career

I absolutely LOVE my job but it wasn’t an easy job getting here—it took me 36 years of learning, being, doing, hoping, having, not having, feeling and experiencing the highs and lows of real life and work. It is only now that I feel wise enough and knowledgeable enough to share this experiential learning.

When I Grow UP I want to be.

From the age of 5—15 years I went through different phases of wanting to be a Mum, Air Steward, Dancer, Model, Nun, Song Writer (I had a real desire to write the winning Eurovision song), Primary School Teacher, Nursery Nurse and a Secretary. So where did my early career ideas come from, maybe.........

Mum: watching my mum lovingly support and care for our family; wanting to be just like my mum and also being the proud owner of various dolls such as (in its day) the famous ’Tiny Tears’.

Air Steward: wanting a ‘glamorous’ lifestyle and the opportunity to travel all over the world, maybe even marry a pilot!! I also think the popular TV advert for Caledonian Airlines had a big influence....I remember wanting to be a ‘Caledonian Girl’.

Dancer: I was a massive fan of the TV programme ’Fame’ and loved dancing from an early age.

Model: watching Miss World on TV and aspiring to be like one of these beautiful woman. I wanted to wear that crown!!!

Nun: there was a real religious influence here from my childhood days, in particular at Primary School and I went through a really ’holy’ stage—that was until I discovered my like for boys!!

Song Writer: I used to lock myself in my bedroom for hours and make up songs, I would practice and practice them all day long and never got bored of it—this was a perfect escapism for me at such a young age. To this very day I still remember the songs and so do my closet friends. We often burst into these songs after a few wines!!

Primary School Teacher: I used to babysit for my next door neighbour when I was in my early teens—I loved watching their 3 kids, probably because I could be a ‘big kid’ myself. This inspired me to want to teach young children to learn and develop—I then found out that I would need to study for a further 5 years after Secondary School and this sadly (at the time) put me off.

Nursery Nurse: again my love for children and helping them to learn and have fun. My Guidance Teacher at Secondary School totally put me off the idea “that’s not the career for you he said, that’s not a good job”. How easily influenced I was as a teenager.

Secretary: well I figured I would go with the safe bet and be a secretary, after all I was good at typing, passed all my Secretarial Studies exams with flying colours and oh yes my mum did that when she left school and she told me fabulous stories about her career in this field. That was it at the age of 15 I aspired to be a secretary. Well there was nothing else, was there......???

My Career Path

So I finally had come to the idea that I would be a Secretary. So I went to typing College to learn how to touch type—this proved to be a very worthwhile skill to have during all my future jobs. What where they? Well, my career experience consists of:

Shop assistant, sales representative, hotel waitress, 20 years of various office type jobs from receptionist through to human resource management. A couple of these jobs which I liked and some others I have quite closely hated.

An Independent Decision

Then at the age of 34 I decided to think very carefully about my future career and where it was heading. Why then? Well lots of reasons I believe, but I think coming out of some personal turmoil combined with some major achievements made me a much stronger person with a ‘can do’ attitude.

This included personal triumphs and goals such as Graduating from University in 2005, running the New York marathon in 2007 and Graduating again from University in 2008. It was in 2006/7 when I seriously reflected on my future and felt much more equipped to correctly answer the question

So what do I really want to do when I grow up?

To answer this I thought about my core values, what job activities I particularly enjoyed doing, what are my strengths, what was I truly passionate about doing, what excites me, where did I want to see myself 5-20 years from now, how was I going to get there?

I had a real belief and confidence in myself and I knew I wanted to have the freedom to explore new territories, learn new things and meet new people. I knew that I wanted to help other people achieve their dreams, goals and aspirations in life, I wanted to coach and mentor people to do just that, I got excited about the thought of it and felt strongly passionate about it. I was truly ready for this and felt fully motivated and inspired to do so.

What did I do?

I researched into Coaching, went to New York and met other coaches, left my full-time job, studied for a further year and achieved a Diploma in Coaching, started up my own business at the end of 2008 and that’s where I am at the moment. I have BIG plans for the business and I know that I will only achieve this through hard work and commitment. To be honest, at times it feels like starting all over again—to what it was like over 20 years ago.

What have been the best parts of my job so far?

Most definitely supporting and empowering other people to achieve their dreams, goals and aspirations in life. Almost 90% of my work to date has been career/organisational goals related and with my Human Resource background and coaching and mentoring experience—it works very well and benefits my clients greatly.

Also being my own boss and having the freedom to use my creativity and innovation to lead the business into great things that will inspire others to achieve great things for themselves.

Personal Learning

I have learned so much over the last 17 months of my business and I feel very proud to say that I have video blogged my real time journey all along the way. My vision is that one day it will be professionally edited and shared with you at home in the format of a short film/documentary.

But.........what about being a Songwriter?

Hey, I can still do that, my career ain’t over yet, it is just at the beginning—the true beginning.

Succeed as a Manager in your Organisation

Succeed as a Manager in your Organisation

Positive Future

I was looking after my 3 year old niece the other week whilst her parents went off to pick up their new puppy dog.

I love watching my little niece she is such a funny, cheery little girl full of character and excitement. She was happily looking out of the window into my back garden when she shouted “look Auntie Claire, they’re dancing”, I asked her what was dancing and she said “the trees are dancing” and she began to copy the swaying movements of the trees blowing in the wind outside. It was so cute to watch, I smiled and I thought to myself what a truly wonderful positive perception she has on Mother Nature.

Later on that day I kept thinking about my niece’s words and how she could have said something completely different using a more negative connotation, but she didn’t. I then thought about my younger sister, who is such an amazing “Mummy” and how positive and happy she is. I just know that my sister’s love for nature and optimistic outlook on life has made such a positive influence on my little niece’s young life.

It made me think about how important it is for us all to choose to have a positive mindset and positive take on the world. Like in those famous lyrics sung by Whitney Houston “I believe the children are our future” - I do hope the trees stay dancing.

Baby Step Seconds

There are lots of successful entrepreneurs, personal development coaches and business owners who know and will tell you that to move forward in life you need to take ACTION!! But what does that really mean??...well, let me tell you:

As a Life Coach I have many clients who come to me with big dreams, goals and life aspirations – they have no problem determining what they want for themselves in life. Their biggest issue is that they have had these ‘dreams’ for years and have never actually done anything about it. They chose to stay in Dreamland, waiting…..and waiting…..and waiting. If this is you, I would ask the question, what are you waiting for? No one and I really mean this when I say it; no one is going to turn up at your door with that new slim body or that great new career you’ve always wanted. If you do believe that, then I am sorry to say, you will remain forever in Dreamland. Now I’m not knocking Dreamland, don’t get me wrong here because I am the first person to encourage people to dream of everything that they want in life and then to take that first baby step to getting there. Let me give you a few examples of mine:

In 2007 I had a real desire and dream to become a Life Coach and start up my own business. By the end of 2008 this dream of mine became a reality and all because I took action. Yes, there were barriers, yes, there were challenges, but I always believed in myself and I got there. I got there not in the end, but I got there in the beginning – a new beginning for me with a whole new set of dreams and new goals to go for.

In 2008 I wanted to make a ‘fly on the wall’ documentary of what it is like starting up your own business (particularly in the middle of a recession) and I wanted to share that learning with others in the hope that it would inspire them to go for their own dreams, goals and aspirations in life. I am over one year into making this happen and have completed over 400 daily video diaries – you can watch them here on RCRN. I continue to face barriers with this dream everyday but I will never give up, I love the journey too much!!

In April 2009 I watched the London Marathon on TV, I said to myself “I am going to do that next year” – I am now 11 weeks into my marathon training for the April 2010 London Marathon. Since my training started I have run 160 miles and walked 27 miles – in time this equates to approximately 112,200 seconds but it all started with ‘Baby Step Seconds’. The famous Chris Gardner, whose true story was told in the film, ‘In the Pursuit of Happiness’ played by the amazing Will Smith –frequently talks about taking ‘baby steps’ in many of his live interviews.
It really is quite simple when you think about it, living your dream starts now with taking baby steps a.k.a ACTION!!

Don’t live your life thinking “what if” or “if only” and “if” you do, well you have a nice time in Dreamland whilst I and many others take action to live our dreams!!

In those famous words by Ruth Casey, “It only takes one person to change your life – YOU”!!

KEEP GOING

I am now nearly 5 weeks into my advanced training programme for the London Marathon which takes place in April next year. This is my second marathon; I am so excited to take part and also to raise money for my chosen charity Alzheimer Scotland.

I am training 6 days a week and it is a tough challenge. This morning I went out for my usual run but today I took a different route – I wanted to tackle a couple of hills to build up my strength and endurance. Needless to say I struggled running up the first hill and I really feared running up the final hill before heading home. I was psyching myself up as I approached the bottom of the long hill and to be honest I was really dreading it, my legs felt heavy and tired. Just at that moment a voice from behind me shouted “KEEP GOING” – I looked to my right and there was this cheery smiling cyclist, passing me by, giving me some much needed words of encouragement. I smiled back at him as if to say THANK YOU, that was all I needed – those two simple words catapulted me into another gear and I was doing a Sylvester Stallone in the film Rocky, running up the stairs to the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art – now famously known as the “Rocky Steps”. My local hill to which I refer, well, I have now renamed it “Clarabelle’s Hill” it sits on the Bellshill Road heading into my home town of Motherwell – and it is to me, one tough cookie. But this cookie ain’t crumbling, “Keep going, keep going, keep going”, I repeated the cyclist’s words in my head and I embraced his words encouragement with open arms until I reached the top.

I just wanted to share that moment of today with every one, because we all can offer real words of encouragement to others around us – when I ran the New York Marathon in November 2007 I was completely uplifted by the thousands of cheering crowds as I chased my dream of completing the 26.2 miles through the wonderful city.
Think about who you can offer your words of encouragement to today – it just may give that person the kick start they need to make a positive change in their life. Who would benefit from your “keep going” chants? – I believe they will be very grateful, just like I was today. Thank you Mr Cyclist unfortunately I couldn’t keep up with you to offer you my personal thank you.

TREASURE CHEST HUNT

Passion

I have had my own rollercoaster of a year but to be honest I didn’t expect it to be any different. I have faced many personal and professional challenges on my new business journey but the most amazing thing is that what comes with the lows is some major and I mean MAJOR highs filled with magic, inspiration and an explosiveness of heartfelt and courageous spirit. That, my precious friends, is what I call a true treasure chest of passion.

We all have that treasure chest of passion that makes us feel alive, in the moment and embracing every opportunity that comes our way. Sometimes it takes a while to find your own treasure chest but I believe it is there calling upon you day by day - you just need to silence yourself from within and quietly listen. Visualise your very own treasure chest right now, bursting at the seams waiting to be discovered. Take a look inside it, What burning desires fuel your motivation?, What is your inner passion saying to you? Go on, I dare you, move a little closer, take a deeper look inside, breathe in its energy and allow it to flow through your body urging you to take that first brave step towards positive change. You’re smiling now because I know you see it, feel it and want to be it.

New Year

Well you can you know, make a pledge for 2010 to search for that treasure chest and don’t stop until you find it. But that is not where the story ends, that dear people is just the beginning of A WONDERFUL LIFE.

Go get it!!