Wendy Goldthorp Coaching

I wasn’t sporty at school. Dropped out of PE at 14.

In my 30s - and totally out of character - I joined the Army Reserves for a few years and even ran London at 35 (I said ‘never again’).

But it wasn’t until my 40s before my health and fitness really took hold, and my 50s where it’s properly come alive. Ultras, lifting, picking up skills in the gym I’d never have gone near at 25.

Nobody really tells you that this stage can be where your body does more, not less.

There’s more than one way to do midlife and none of it’s wrong. This is just mine. I train to find out what my body can do, and the answer keeps being more than I expected.

➡️ If that’s the version you’re after, you’re in the right place. 💪

I eat around 120g of protein a day, and I’m vegan, so that’s usually the first question I get. 🤔

The thing that took me a while to understand is that it isn’t about balancing every single plate. Mine aren’t always balanced. It’s about getting a proper amount of protein in at the meals that matter, especially around training, and letting the rest of the day bring the total home.

The sources doing most of the work on this particular day are soy and pea, because they carry more of what actually triggers muscle repair than lentils do.

None of this is complicated once you understand the principle. It stops being something you have to think about and just becomes how you eat.

If your protein’s been an afterthought, this is the thing I’d change first.

I think the hardest part of this is that nothing you’re doing is actually wrong.

You’re putting the work in and you’re eating well, so when it stops paying off the way it used to, of course you push harder and try to fuel the tiredness with extra more carbs. I used to do exactly the same thing for longer than I’d like to admit.

But the effort was never the bit that was missing.

The body you’re training now just needs more protein than it used to, and it needs it in proper amounts rather than a bit grazed across the day.

That one change is usually what separates the women who are grinding through training sessions from the ones who are actually moving again.

So before you decide it’s just your age catching up with you, consider what’s actually on your plate.

Tomorrow I’ll show you what that looks like.

For years I went looking for someone who got it.

Vegan. Endurance. Midlife. 🌱

Someone who understood that my recovery had changed and my old way of eating wasn’t keeping up.

I couldn’t find her. So I stopped looking and became her.

Tomorrow I’m getting into what’s actually going on with the protein side, because that’s where I see it go wrong first.

If you’re training hard, eating plants and still not recovering, this one’s for you. 👊💪

Here’s something no athletic woman over 45 wants to hear.

You’ve trained through everything. You’ve enjoyed results. But training harder isn’t the answer anymore if you want to continue to progress.

The body you’re training now plays by different rules.

Remember this the next time someone tells you to just push through.

Vegan. 55. First in my age group at the Dartmoor Discovery Ultra on Saturday.

32 miles. 4,200 feet of elevation. Rain that barely stopped. Winds gusting to 42mph.

Finish time: 6hrs 1 min 19s.

I credit that result to three things:

- My strength training
- My running training
- And my diet.

All three. Not one without the others.

I’ve been vegan for 13 years. Whole food, mostly. I supplement with pea protein in my recovery shake, vegan creatine and B12 nutritional yeast.

By Sunday morning I was back out walking the dog. Some quad soreness on the stairs – all those steep downhills. A savoury carb craving I dealt with via vegan pizza for elevenses. Quads aside, reasonably back to normal within 36 hours of finishing 32 miles. I’m giving the hills a few days off 😬

I wanted my son to see what showing up looks like when the conditions are brutal and your brain is telling you to stop. He was at the finish line. He filmed it. He told me I’d won my age group. I cried.

If you’re a woman 45+ who trains, or wants to, and you’ve been wondering what vegan performance actually looks like in a real body at a real age - this is it.🌱

Doors to June’s cohort for Edge Athlete close tonight at 7pm!

Monthly progressive strength and conditioning for women over 45 who want to train like an athlete - or who are already pursuing their sport and want the strength and conditioning work to support it. 💪

£60 a month. Three month commitment. You get me - coaching your form, in your corner, every step.

Seven days to decide if it’s for you. Pro-rated refund, no awkward questions if not.

➡️ See link in bio for the details. DMs are open for any questions.