Hey there!

I’m really excited to have been asked to regularly contribute to these newsletters, as I am a loyal customer of Shoe Clinic, and have benefited from the valuable advice they have given me over the years.

And who am I?

For the seven years following university, I worked as a consultant Dietitian in Auckland, assisting high performance athletes and teams, corporates and individuals, rest homes, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies.

During this time I also instructed and competed in Aerobics gaining silver in the teams event at the ‘97 Reebok Allstar Nationals. Injuries forced me out, but keen to stay involved in competitive sport, I decided (at 29) to take up running.

In the six years since then I’ve raced track, mountain running (representing NZ in Italy 2001), cross-country, half marathon, and finally the marathon on the Gold Coast in 2002. Since that day, marathon has been my passion.

On my second marathon attempt, I ran a time which met the International ‘B’ entry standard for the Athens Olympics, but as it did not meet the NZ Olympic standard, I decided to give London Marathon a shot.

Unfortunately, after two and a half years with barely a niggle, I tore my plantar fascia (foot) halfway through, and was forced to pull out.

Not ready to give up so soon, I decided to quit my day job, and for the last three years I have committed myself almost full-time to running, working part-time as a TV presenter for the ‘Eating Well’ commercial series on TV1.

As I’ve had more than my share of running injuries, I now work closely under the guidance of a great team, including my coach, physiotherapist, pilates instructor, podiatrist, and of course the fantastic team at Shoe Clinic Newmarket!

Lets just say when I look back as an 80 year old, I want to feel I gave running my best possible shot!

How I hope to help you!

So, what I’m really hoping to offer YOU GUYS on the Shoe Clinic website, each month is nutrition tips, based on years of studying and working in the area, but even more importantly, from a practical point of view as an athlete and everyday kiwi.

I think the biggest barrier to improving our diets, is often not lack of knowledge, but lack of practical skills to translate this knowledge into our everyday eating patterns, especially when most of us have such hectic schedules!. So hopefully I’m here to make life a little easier!.

Setting goals to eat better shouldn’t add extra stress to your life... it’s not about the perfect diet, it’s about making small, realistic dietary changes at regular intervals. Over time these can have a profound effect, leaving you feeling more energised and positive, able to train harder for longer, recover from exercise faster, look fitter on the outside, and without a doubt healthier on the inside.

Along the way I will throw in some useful training and motivational tips that I have assimilated from other ‘exercisers’ (high performance, and everyday people), coaches, and through personal experience.

So if any of that sounds interesting to you, I will look forward to seeing you on the Shoe Clinic website, next month.

Marnie Oberer