Mina was born in the UK and moved to Nigeria when she was five years old. Mina had a carefree childhood growing up in Northern Nigeria with siblings, before deciding to move back to the UK at sixteen to continue her education.
Mina shares more about this challenging time in her life, from losing her mother at eighteen years old and having to work three part time jobs to support herself as she continued her education to become a Doctor.
Mina talks about her reasons for deciding to join the army and how she incorporated fitness into her already busy schedule. Mina talks about her passion for running and why its such a big part of life, she talks about training, jegging and taking on her first marathon and what she has learned along the way, and why she has kept on running even after being diagnosed with Lupus (autoimmune disease) a long-term condition that causes joint pain, skin rashes and tiredness.
If you are passionate about running then this is the episode for you to listen to, Mina will inspire you to take your first step and to sign up for a marathon, whether that’s taking on a fast flat marathon like the Berlin Marathon or deciding to head to New York City to experience a running atmosphere like no other.
Listen to Mina now on the Tough Girl Podcast - available on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud & iheartradio.
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Show notes
Being born in Newcastle
Moving to the North of Nigeria at 5 years old until 16
Being the middle child
Being able to walk to school and living in a very peaceful area
Spending a lot of time outside
Moving back to England at 16 for her education
Wanting to be a Doctor from a young age
Her journey to joining the military in the UK
Being independent from a young age
Working 3 jobs while being in full time education
How it all changed in her 3rd year at University
Being accepted into the Army
Being able to focus on her studies full time
Broken sleep and studying for University
Kindness of strangers who helped her
Not getting the A’Level grades she needed
Losing her mum at 18
Going back to college for another year and getting offered a place at Southhampton
How fitness and maintaining her health during stressful times
Finishing university and focusing on her military fitness
Learning how to run and focusing on swimming
Being taken outside her comfort zone
Being stubborn and not liking to be told no
What drives her
Learning to be comfortable in her own skin
Starting to love running
Deciding to run her first marathon to raise money for charity
Signing up for the Berlin Marathon
The benefits of going on long runs
Being diagnosed with Lupus
Jeffing - walk/run
Figuring out her run training and focusing on her pace
Happy memories from the NYC marathon
Telling her story to inspire young women
The Namu Project
Visiting Internally displaced people (IDPs) at camps in Nigeria
Crochet with plastic bags
Maintaining her positivity when there is so much to do
Needing to impact one person
Taking her children to the IDP camps
How the charity is coping doing Covid
Wanting to teach basic breast examination to women
Final words of advice to motivate and inspire
Social Media
Namu Project - “Namu" is Hausa for "ours". A charity working towards alleviating poverty through training, education and empowerment.
Website namuproject.org
Instagram - @thenamuproject
Instagram - @justdoing.m.e
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