I first started running in high school in my native Scotland, at about the age of 12 or 13. I loved cross-country in the winter months, and in the summer back in those days I was actually a sprinter specializing in the 100 and 200 meter and 4 x 100 meter relay events. I didn’t run very much after I left school and while I was at University in Glasgow, although I did keep fit by doing step aerobics and other fitness classes. I dabbled with running again in my mid-20s, training for and twice running as part of a team in the Edinburgh Marathon Relay.
Some of the following several years were a tough time personally for me, and running took a real back seat. At the age of 35, however, I discovered my love of running again, and trained for and ran my first two half marathons. In the past ten years (I’m now 45) I have stuck with running (apart from a few short off periods here and there) and have become a huge fan of long distance running. In 2015 I joined the Glasgow-based running club, Bellahouston Harriers, and trained and competed with them until I moved to Colorado, USA in February 2020. In May 2016 I ran my first marathon (Belfast, Northern Ireland) in a time of 3:11:53, and 2016 was probably my best year of running to date – I ran my half marathon PR (Balloch to Clydebank, 1:32:05), my 10k PR (Clydebank, 39:46) and my 5k PR (Greenock Parkrun, 19:22) that year.
I have continued to run since I moved to the States in 2020, and that year I became a member of online running community / in-person race organizers RUN to Change Lives (https://runtochangelives.org/). Since the beginning of 2022 I have been lucky enough to be a RUN to Change Lives Elite Ambassador, which I absolutely love, and I’m also delighted to be involved with them behind-the-scenes on the organizational and coaching side of things. I ran my second marathon in April 2022 (Delaware Marathon Running Festival) in a time of 3:40:13. I was absolutely thrilled that this time earned me a good-for-age place at the Boston Marathon 2023. In April 2023 I completed the Boston Marathon in a time of 3:58:43, then just over a month later I completed the Denver Colfax Marathon in a time of 4:04:06. As a running coach, I would never advise a client to do two full marathons in the space of just over a month, but I decided to go against conventional wisdom and squeeze two marathons out of my Boston training. I’m glad that I did it but I wouldn’t do two marathons in such a short space of time again.
To date, in all, I have run four full marathons, fifteen half marathons, a few ten-mile road races, plus many 10ks, 5ks and cross-country races. I continue to be passionate about running, and I qualified as a Road Runners Club of America Level 1 Run Coach in June 2022. I am also a Certified Personal Trainer and Strength Coach (USA), a Level 3 Personal Trainer (UK) and I hold a few UK Fitness Instructor qualifications. I worked as a self-employed Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer back in Scotland from November 2017 – February 2020, and also have recent experience working as an in-person Personal Trainer here in Colorado. I am delighted to say that I am now offering online Running Coach services here at Lynne Flores Running LLC – https://lynnefloresrunning.com/online-run-coaching/ . I also offer online Personal Training services (for runners and non-runners alike) – https://lynnefloresrunning.com/online-personal-training/ .
Many thanks for reading!
Lynne.
(Photos with no photo credit are my own images.)
