Heidi Nguyen
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
On You …
My name is Heidi, I’m 28 years old and a daughter of a chef, coach, an entrepreneur and single mom to my little Frenchie. I live in Odense, Denmark together with my dog. When I don’t work and not running in the streets with my crew (Odense Running Crew), I love to travel, because it makes me fall in love with my life – it makes memories, it gives me freedom to be myself and because of I’m passionate about running, then it’s even better to explore the world by running. All in all, I’m passionate about inspiring other people with my running story, things I do and how I live my life.
On Balance…
I’m hardworking and have to always keep my deadlines, so I have a very busy office job, I also have business trips several times a year, but I’m a time optimist and it’s doesn’t matter how busy am I, then I take time to run, everyday, even if it’s in working hours – just to balance my life, if I don’t do that, then I can work my ass out for the rest of my life. It’s important to exercise, to get healthy, and the most important thing in life, is to be a good role model for my team, my colleagues – and show them the good energy.
On Running…
In my young ages, I did a lot of sports. I play tennis and football, I have also been an elite swimmer and professional dancer – but after studying at the university I didn’t do exercise, because of work. So one day in my very stressful period, I woke up and told myself that I have to exercise, to lose some weight and be healthy, and it is here my running history began – for 1,5 years ago I started running to get myself of out my stress period. It doesn’t take long time then I took it ambitiously and get a coach. Today I’m coached by Maria Sig (Earlier Danish Elite Runner) and this is absolutely the best thing I have done in my life.
On Miles…
I’m a half marathon runner, no more, no less – so far, honestly my longest running distance is exactly 21,09 km. The first time I think about the experience after crossing the finish line, then it was crazy – as really crazy. The distance is long enough to be hard and to get yourself out of control. My first race was CPH Half 17’, where they actually cancelled the race, about 10 minutes after I crossed the finish line, because of clouds and thunder – in that moment I was really happy to finished the race.
On the Streets…
I love to run on the streets, both together with my crew and alone, I love all the people passing me – these people don’t know it, but they give me more power to continue and complete my training session. They’re the reason that I don’t stop, when it hurts, even though they don’t cheer. Running on the streets with my running buddies is also an opportunity to show people, that it’s more than just running – it’s also about good vibes, great friends, the crew love feeling and just having fun.
On Pain…
The pain is both mental and physical, and most of the time it’s all about the mental and this is a part of the game of being a runner. I’m exactly not the best to push myself through the pain, but I know my body can do more than I think and luckily I have great running buddies, who know me very well and pushed me, beyond my limits. But of course, I also listen to my body, I learned from every pain, so I also accept and respect my body, as soon I felt any pain – I’m not running when I’m injured.
On Women…
It’s doesn’t matter who you are and your age, running is good for everyone and everybody can be a runner – old as young, men as women and kids, so guys: just go for a run – when you finish, you will not regret.
And of course women have to be a bit careful and think about their future, when they do elite sports, running etc. in relation to the female body, pregnancy and how much you push yourself, but as a jogger then you don’t have to think about it, it’s not harmful, on the contrary.
On the first run…
Actually I can’t remember my first run, but I can remember that it was pretty hard the first 2-3 months. I couldn’t even run 2 km without a break and the feeling of near death, but I kept going and today I’m running 8-18 kilometers, 4-5 times a week, without any problems – so hard work pays off.
For all the beginners, doesn’t matter how hard it is, or when you’re feeling down, because you don’t see yourself developing, then just be patient. Don’t go too fast, that’s the receipt directly to an injury, so you have to listen to your body and start slow – one day you’ll look back and see how far you’re from where you started.
On social media…
I’m very active on SoMe, especially Instagram – and you’re more than welcome to follow me and my running story and goals at Cph Half and Amsterdam Half: @_heidinguyen . Instagram is the platform where I get my motivation from for both running and travelling. It’s always exciting and inspiring to follow my running friends around the world, when you only meet them few times a year.
On the future…
This year’s goal has the focus only been on the half marathon distance, so I’ll do two more within this year, Cph Half 18’ and Amsterdam Half 18’. After that, I’m not sure yet, maybe getting faster at 5- and 10K, or maybe run a marathon – it’s two different things, so I think I have to discuss this with my coach. But all in all, I will do my best to inspire and motivate people to run, especially all the beginners – it’s not only about how fast you run, just run and be patient, then everything about running will comes to you.
#RunRevolution.
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