It’s the taking part...
And the winning for Penny Mallory
Penny Mallory was the first woman in the world to qualify to drive a World Rally car, becoming National Ladies’ Champion Rally Driver in 1993. She is a wellknown journalist, TV presenter (her credits include Driven, Watchdog, Britain’s Worst Roads and Top Gear amongst many others). Penny is also keen on furniture renovation and painting, as well as being the mother of two young daughters. (So an expert on work/life balance too!)
In an exclusive interview for Coachlines, Penny describes how Coaching helped her with her two latest goals – running the London Marathon and presenting a live television chat show.
Q: When did you decide to run the
London Marathon, and why?
A: I decided in December last year –
and as to ‘why’, well that’s the big
question! I have spent so much of my
life being unfit. At school, I hated
exercise and did everything possible to
get out of sports lessons even painting
fake injuries on my legs. So, deciding to
do the London Marathon was the most
extreme, insane thing I could possibly
do. But that was exactly the reason why
I chose it – I wanted to prove that I
could do anything at all that I put my
mind to.
Q: When did you decide that it would
be helpful to work with a coach?
A: I started training and was really
motivated, but as the date of the event
got closer, I really started to freak out.
I decided to go to Mike for help
primarily with the pain that I was
experiencing when running. I felt that I
just couldn’t go on.
Q: What did Mike do for you?
A: He helped me focus on getting rid of
the pain, as well as reminding me of
everything that I have achieved so far.
Q: How did this help on the day?
A: It worked brilliantly. I had stored in
my brain the things Mike and I had
discussed and I used these techniques
throughout the race, particularly when
things started to hurt. Of course, these
are also techniques that I can re-use at
any time for any purpose, not just
running 26 miles!
Q: So how did you do?
A: I completed the Marathon in 4.54
hours and although this was a bit slower
than I’d hoped for, I was absolutely
delighted to have got around.
Q: I understand that you have also
worked with Coaching for Success in
terms of your career as a television
presenter?
A: A real challenge for me – and
something that I really wanted to do -
was to host a live television chat show.
Obviously using an earpiece, dealing
with a live audience and guests is
extremely demanding. You have to do
so many things all at the same time –
and make it all look very easy. I
worked with Mike on visualising how
this situation would feel, and how
exactly I wanted to perform.
Q: What has been the result of this
work with Mike?
A: Well, three weeks ago, the dream of
doing this became a reality. I stood in
for someone and they liked my
performance so much that they’ve given
me a series of programmes over a
sixteen-week period. The show, which
airs on digital television, is called Men &
Motors Live – and it involves everything
I was looking for – cars, live chat,
guests, viewer phone calls. The first
time that I presented the show, it was
amazing: it was exactly as I had
visualised!