"I was scared of running - but I loved it!"
After a year with Damien, he left the area and referred Linda to Steve Bradbury, who introduced her to something she'd never imagined - running four and a half miles!
'Running scared me' Linda admits. 'I don't like the idea of going out there in the streets with people staring.' But her first running experience - going around a local reservoir changed her mind instantly."It was a lovely summers evening and just being out there in the fresh air, and actually moving instead of standing still on the treadmill, was a totally different experience" she says 'As soon as I finished that run I thought "Why would I go back in the gym now?"
Now she's got her sights set on new challenges. 'I'm going to enter a local 10k race and I'm really looking forward to it. I like the idea of having a medal and a t-shirt to show all the hard work I've put in. I think racing might become addictive.'
Finding new confidence - and a new career!
Now that Linda's caught the running bug, she's paying more attention to the finer details of sport.
'I'm learning more about the technical side - I really love doing interval runs (Where you alternate periods of and periods of easier running) and pushing myself to the edge' she says.
Her diet has also improved. 'I spent a lot of my time until I was 30 doing daft diets, losing weight and putting it back on again' she admits. 'Now I'm more careful. I eat a good balance of proteins and carbohydrates, and I do try things depending on what type of run I'm doing. If I go for a long run I'll have wholemeal toast or porridge for energy and I try to eat organic whenever possible - as I get older I'm more conscious of eating good food.
As well as the physical effects running has given her a boost in other areas of her life. 'It's made me more confident in the clothes I wear, the way I look and the way I feel around other people', she says. The biggest change in career direction - from software analyst to counsellor! 'I've always been interested in finding out about others and helping with their problems, and now I'm retraining,' says Linda. 'I probably wouldn't have managed it if I hadn't started running - I would have thought it was too much of a challenge. It's going to be a total change.'