CELEBRATING THE WINS – NICKY LEIS

Friday, 16th August 2024

The month’s theme has been nothing but sports orientated with the Olympics and Paralympics kicking off. Showcasing the dedication, mental toughness and motivation these athletes put towards their goals. Here at PEAK we refer to everyone filtering through our doors as athletes, although it may not be on the same scale, we recognise the dedication and motivation that is put towards your goals. This month we wanted to draw attention to one of our athletes who has most definitely faced some highs and lows. Nicky Leis is one of PEAKs athletes who has a keen love for her running. So much so, that she’s committed to completing the Abbotts World Majors!

The world majors are a series of six marathons known as the world’s largest and most prestigious. These six marathons include Boston, Chicago, New York, London, Berlin and Tokyo. The world majors may soon be welcoming a 7th contender for 2025 onwards, as Sydney are currently in the bidding process to become the seventh star.

Nicky has committed endless hours of consistent training working towards this goal. Having completed Boston (April 2018), New York (Nov 2018), Berlin (Sept 2019) and Chicago (Oct 2023), she only has two more to go. However, this journey hasn’t come without its obstacles. Nicky presented to PEAK originally in May of 2022, having completed three majors already, she was feeling good and just needing some fine tuning which was addressed through massage. All in preparation for a qualifying time at Gold Coast Marathon 2022.

This is where Nicky began to run into some obstacles. Being around the time COVID was only just easing, leading into Gold Coast marathon Nicky wasn’t feeling her usual self. With the all clear and a negative COVID test, Nicky set out to complete Gold Coast. After running 30km into the marathon she had to pull out due to not feeling well. Devastated and defeated Nicky still stayed and supported the rest of the PEAK athletes running on the day. Sportsmanship at its finest. During this time, Nicky also managed to land a new and exciting job opportunity and bought a house with her husband! With the negatives, came the positives.

After one setback already, Nicky brushed it off and re-focused herself towards the next event in sight for redemption, only to encounter yet another obstacle. Fast forward to July 2022, Nicky presented to PEAK with a lingering shin pain that was affecting her ability to train at full capacity. Stress responses are amongst the common circulating injuries in the world of long distance running. Unfortunately for Nicky she was faced with a Fredericson grade one stress response to her left shin bone.

“But with every setback, I also had something exciting to look forward to balancing it out. I was lucky!”

For the next five weeks Nicky gained a moon boot as her new accessory. Did this stop her from training? Of course not. She spent the next month maintaining her cardiovascular fitness through swimming laps upon laps. The motivation was nothing short of admirable. Fast forward to mid August 2022 and she was finally out of the boot. By September she was easing into short runs, not the usual mileage she was used to, but on her way back to normal.

Between August 2022 and July 2023, Nicky had returned to her usual routine of training with a few events in sight. In the process she had also eloped with her amazing husband Scotty and was heading overseas for their honeymoon. Late July rolled around and Nicky had stumbled across another inconvenient injury. This time, tendon related. With the Chicago Marathon only three months away, she had enough time to nurse this tendinopathy and get herself to the finish line. Chicago, USA……tick! Her next focus was addressing the tendinopathy properly and healing it back to full health, then planning the 2024 line up of events.

“I love running to switch off and get lost in my thoughts, to keep fit, challenge myself, inspire others, and meet new people. I love the places running has taken me, all over the world. I love that it is something you can do anywhere (being safety conscious of course!). I have made some amazing friends and have achieved some incredible personal goals.”

With running being the trend of 2024 currently. Nicky has done this trend right! Kicking off the year running Brisbane half marathon in 1:30:00, setting a new 10km personal best of 40mins 18secs and finally conquering the Gold Coast Marathon in 03:09:22! And she’s not done yet! Nicky, we wish you the best of luck on the remainder of your journey to those Abbotts World Majors and we can’t wait to see the quality of running you produce in the process. We are proud of your efforts, determination and true grit in this whole process!

#DreamBig

Why do you love running? Why do you run?

Since I was young I have always enjoyed running, although didn’t get into it properly until my late 20s after suffering a knee reconstruction and being unable to play my usual sport, soccer. I set myself a goal to run 10km to keep myself motivated, and it turns out I wasn’t too bad at it and I enjoyed the sense of achievement. I joined a running club, and whilst not being a team sport I definitely enjoyed the social aspect and supporting club mates.

I love running to switch off and get lost in my thoughts, to keep fit, to challenge myself, to inspire others, to meet new people. I love the places running has taken me, all over the world. I love that it is something you can do anywhere (being safety conscious of course!). I have made some amazing friends and have achieved some incredible personal goals.

How did you keep yourself motivated through injury?

This can be really difficult. Motivation ebbs and flows, whether injured or not! I definitely experienced times where I was feeling pretty low, not being able to exercise like I was used to. But I would remind myself that there are plenty of people worse off, and this is just a bump in the road for me. Focus on what I can control – alternative exercises like swimming, cycling, pilates, upper body gym work, and set goals along the way.

It takes a team of people to support, I have a loving husband and family, friends checking in, a running coach who helped me program alternative exercises to stay active and stay accountable, and the awesome team at Peak with physio, podiatry and massage (dare I say I may have funded your Christmas party?!).

I’m a glass half full person, I try to find positives in everything. Being injured allowed me time to slow down, read books, spend time with family. And now I’m happily back doing what I love with a new appreciation.

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