Testimonials

I just thought I'd write to let you know I did the Great South Swim at the weekend and did it in 39 mins. - with no problems except that I hung back to help my sister in law who struggled for the first 100m - so next time I want to do it in under 30 mins.. we raised about £1200 for cancer research. I just wanted you to know that I was SO glad I did your training day - it was really helpful and made the whole thing less nerve racking....the water was a balmy 17 degrees so that helped too no doubt - but I felt confident to get in and had no fear - so I was glad of that as my sister in law definitely got a bit of a shock as she had never been in open water before and her goggles troubled her so I was able to help her get over that too and we both got round!

I've definitely got the open water swimming bug and can't wait to do more events. So thanks for inspiring me and for a really great day!

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I passed the Admiralty Interview Board in June 2010, for entry into the Royal Navy in September of the same year. Unfortunately I was coming into July on the back of my final year of university, and with finals as well as coursework being my firm priorities during that time my fitness ultimately suffered. On top of this, I have always been weak at running - THE fitness training for the armed services. Although I was provided with a fitness programme I felt that it did not address my weaknesses, and that left to my own devices, I would not make as much progress as I wanted and become frustrated.

I informed Janet of my weaknesses and concerns and she promptly decided on a programme that was both challenging (and thus rewarding) and varied (and thus not boring). Furthermore the programme was very much orientated towards the needs of my career. As a result I wasted little energy.

By attending supervised training sessions with clear goals both in the gym and outside, I felt that I was making real progress and thus wasn't becoming impatient. This had been a major barrier to me before. Janet was brilliant at helping me to overcome these mental barriers, and at altering my programme so that it was continually varied and more challenging as I became fitter.

As I prepared for training I felt far more confident and that I was well prepared for life in the Royal Navy both physically and mentally. This is in large part to Janet.

Eight months on and I have passed out of Britannia as a commissioned Royal Naval Officer having passed every fitness assessment at the first time of asking. I am certain that had I not began training with my base of personal fitness I would have found the entire process much more difficult and certainly much more painful! My thanks again go to Janet.

I would not hesitate to recommend her as a personal trainer to anyone, whatever their goals or needs.

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I signed up for a six week 'learn to run' course in November 2009 which Janet was advertising from the local leisure centre. Like most of the women who turned up, I was in my forties, had a bit of spare tyre and whilst I would have described myself as 'sporty in my youth' and a sporadic gym attendee I had never run for exercise before. My ambition was to be able to run for a few minutes without stopping and possibly accompany my husband on a run one day.

The course taught us the basics of stretching, drills, technique and each week we played different 'games' to help us push ourselves further than we would have gone on our own. We would meet at different locations around Marlborough, so we had the interest of running in the countryside in all weathers and experienced a variety of terrains. We had to do homework (run twice between sessions), received regular e-mails with helpful worksheets and by week three I discovered not only did I not dread going out to do my homework, I positively looked forward to Friday running class, which would always be challenging but fun. After an hour with Janet at the helm I was knackered but elated that I had got through it.

When that course ended I knew I wanted to sign up again in February and set myself a goal of running 5km in one stretch. Well, I did that easily and now I can confidently run more than 5 km, find it an efficient form of exercise to run for 40 minutes, three times a week and have gone on to form a running club with the other girls in the group for which Janet provides the infrastructure, locations and challenges and we run the session between us. It has become a Friday habit, fitness with a group of women who have become friends.

Janet has been an inspiration, and whilst I have absolutely no ambition to take part in a Triathlon I can go running with my husband and keep up - a complete revelation to both of us. He is very proud of me and so am I.

PS Whilst the running course was a cheap way of getting fit and technically running is a 'free' sport, I have discovered that by the time you have invested in a new pair of shoes, jacket, lycra, gloves and possibly a sports watch, it all adds up. So beware - you might just get sucked in!

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Today, three of us competed in the Worcester Top Barns open water triathlon. We were all a bit nervous before the start. I don't know how the others did, as the results haven't been published yet, but I was really pleased with my own performance.

For the first time, I completed a 750m open water swim using front crawl for the whole distance and in a time of just over 14 minutes (about 8 minutes faster than my previous open water event). Without the confidence I gained from last week's training, I'm not sure I'd have been able to manage as well.

The exercises that came in most useful were:

• dealing with the rough and tumble at the start
• sighting
• kicking strongly with the legs for last 50m
• plus, of course, the general confidence that I could complete the course

Many thanks for your help

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This time last year I decided to embark on my triathlon journey by entering the TImex Women's only event at Eton. I was a complete novice to competitive sport, I bought a bike, began to practice my running and swimming and soon found myself apprehensively standing on the pontoon. I survived the swim, loved the bike and persevered with the run. I then knew that it was a sport that I wanted to continue and improve at.

I discovered Janet through one of the forums on a triathlon website. Following an initial meeting and swim analysis session, Janet provided me with clear, detailed weekly training plans. These were appropriately tailored to my level of ability and included regular feedback and advice that was both constructive and supportive. Janet was fantastic at producing a programme that accommodated my frequently changing shift patterns.

Although I haven't completed a triathlon since being mentored by Janet, I feel a lot more prepared for the coming season. My swimming and cycling have improved greatly and through Janet's varied sessions my 10K time has improved by 10 minutes.

I am looking forward to attending some of Janet's 'Open Water' sessions and her continuing to mentor me through the coming season. I originally thought that having a coach was something that only elite athletes made use of, but I can thoroughly recommend Janet's coaching programmes, as she has been a huge help to me over the winter.

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