Singapore #Fitspo of the Week Wendy Yeo: 'Running was the first thing that I ever got to feel really proud of'
Be inspired by the success stories of fitness influencers, celebrities, models and trainers in Singapore
Cheryl Tay
·Contributor
Mon, 25 December 2023 at 12:00 am GMT
Singapore #Fitspo of the Week Wendy Yeo is a finance admin manager. (PHOTO: Cheryl Tay)
Life goes beyond the digits on the scale and your body is capable of so much more! Yahoo’s #Fitspo of the Week series is dedicated to inspirational men and women in Singapore leading healthy and active lifestyles. Have someone to recommend? Hit Cheryl up on Instagram or Facebook!
Name: Wendy Yeo (@angelrun.diary)
Age: 40+
Height: 1.68m
Weight: 53.5kg
Occupation: Finance admin manager
Status: Married with two daughters
Food: Since February this year, I started to be more mindful about what I eat as I wanted to have a healthier lifestyle, look and feel better. I track my food macros daily and try to consume more high protein food. I also avoid most processed food if I can. This diet works very well for me so far.
Exercise: I adopt a very disciplined exercise routine for myself. Every week, I run twice, work out in the gym twice and do home workouts twice. I also make sure I clock at least 8,000 to 10,000 steps per day.
Q: When you were younger, were you active in sports?
A: I would say I was. I was part of the volleyball school team and also played a lot of ball games like netball and table tennis in secondary school. I hated running when I was younger though.
What did you get into as you got older?
Since my 30s, I enjoy trying out different kinds of fitness. Besides running, I did Barre, Pilates, boxing and spinning – and I enjoyed all of them.
Currently, I go to the gym twice a week and I feel that strength training has really helped me in my running and other areas of my life, so I am sticking to gym workouts for now.
Wendy took up running in order to be healthy enough to take care of her daughters. (PHOTO: Cheryl Tay)
How did you get into running?
I spent a large part of my 20s battling vertigo and weak health. When I had my daughters in my 30s, I decided I need to be healthy in order to take good care of them and be a good role model. So I started looking for exercise to do, like badminton or squash because ball sports were the only things I knew from secondary school. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any friends to join me.
Feeling really frustrated one day, I decided to try running because I could do this alone. I put on a very old pair of running shoes and went to the running track near my workplace and ran five rounds around the track. It was the most painful and difficult run I ever did. However, I felt really good about myself.
I continued to run even though the first attempt was tough. As time went by, running became easier and I also made friends at the track and also from running clubs. Running friends inspired me to join races in order to motivate me to run more often. I became very motivated as there was a goal to achieve at every race. Running became a platform for me to release my stress, frustration as well as to help me relax.
Your running journey has taken you to many places.
I used to do at least one overseas race a year from 2015 to 2019. I had done races in Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia and Hong Kong. If not for the COVID-19 pandemic, I would have gone to Australia for a race in May 2020. Every overseas race brought new memories, giving me different kinds of learning experiences and built me to become a stronger runner and person.
My first overseas race in Penang was for a 25km run and I did not study the route well before I signed up. In the end, I needed to run up Penang Hill, with no traffic control on the roads from the organiser. It was a scary and tough experience but completing it before the cutoff time was an achievement to me.
Then I went on to Hong Kong for a half-marathon during winter. It was my first winter run and I did not know how to prepare for it. I ended up not dressing correctly for the race and I was not prepared for the slopes in Hong Kong either. I did not do well for the race but it was a memorable first winter run for me.
The next year I went Taipei for a half-marathon in winter again. I thought I would be more well prepared since I had done a winter run before. Unfortunately, that year there was a drastic change in weather. It was zero degrees on race day, bitter cold and difficult. I managed to complete the race just a few minutes before the cut off time.
Following my desire to run a full marathon overseas, I ventured to Japan next. Nagoya Marathon was my dream as it was a women’s run and the medal was a Tiffany & Co pendant! Unfortunately, halfway through my marathon training, I got badly injured. I had to visit the physiotherapist many times in the lead up to the race. I was so worried that I would not be able to run. But I DID IT and ended up with a completion time way below the cutoff time. The weather was good, the route was great and the supporters from Japan was simply great. It still stirs my heart every time I recall this race. I cried with joy when I reached the end point and received my medal.
I did another marathon in Kyoto the following year. I simply love running in Japan. The supporters were so amazing and supportive. As we ran past some of the houses, the supporters came out and offered us fruits. I also did another Taipei half-marathon the same year.
All the overseas marathons I’ve done are very dear to me and I will hold these memories close to my heart.
Wendy used to go for at least one overseas running event every year from 2015 to 2019. (PHOTO: Cheryl Tay)
How has running helped you cope with your personal struggles?
I struggled a lot growing up, as a person who lacked self-confidence and had low self-esteem. I also found it hard to trust people. All these were due to the bullying experiences I had in primary school as I was a poor student and I had hearing issues. It also did not help that I had a brother who topped his studies and was the pride of my parents.
These struggles affected me at work as well, as I often felt I wasn’t good enough and rejected new opportunities. Thus, I was unable to make much progress in the initial years of my career, though I was really a hardworking person. This made me withdraw even more from people as I felt my work was not being appreciated.
Running was the first thing that I ever got to feel really proud of myself for, especially upon completion of a race. It was also through running that I started to open up to more people, especially those who run with me. When they slowed down their pace to run with me or waited for me to complete my race, it really touched me a lot.
I still have these personal struggles from time to time, but I can overcome them much better now. Most of the time, I just try my best to focus on the positive side instead of the negative. It is not easy, but it can be done!
You suffered injuries in the last few years that affected your running.
Initially, I didn’t cope and manage my injury well. As running was so important to me, I continued to run even when I was injured. After each injury, I went to see the physiotherapist and each time I was asked to stay off running for a few weeks. However, I was very impatient. Before making a full recovery, I would go back to running and got injured again.
This continued for the next few years until the Circuit Breaker. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I ran less and seemed to get better. I thought I had finally recovered, only to find myself injured again during a long run in December 2021.
That was kind of the last straw for me and I stopped running altogether after that injury. I did continue to exercise by doing workouts like Pilates and spin. However, I felt myself get weaker and weaker until one day I fell down during a workout and I realised something was not right for me.
Acting on a friend’s advice, I decided to seek professional help and go to the gym for strength training. After I felt stronger from the gym workouts under the eyes of a trainer, I slowly got back to running. I re-started really slow, like a new runner. I ran at a pace of 9 min/km for 3km and gradually moved up. I am happy to say, I am finally able to run pain free and sustain well for much longer distances now.
Wendy used to be too impatient in coming back from running injuries. (PHOTO: Cheryl Tay)
What are your goals in running now?
As I just got back to running comfortably (without any pain and injuries) in June this year, I am taking it slow and learning to appreciate the incremental progress in my runs. My running goals right now are to complete three half-marathon races this year in top form and condition. I hope to do better and stronger with each race.
When you were younger, did you experience any incidents that made you feel insecure about yourself?
During primary school, there was this girl who always bullied me. She gathered all the classmates in my class to outcast me and they would laugh at my poor academic results and my looks. I was always alone in class and I hated going to school. I was unable to confide in my parents as I would be scolded instead. I felt so insecure and alone as I felt there was no one in this world to go to.
Things did get better when I went to secondary school and met better classmates and friends. However, when my teacher discovered I was having some hearing issues and an ENT specialist confirmed it, I became even more insecure.
I viewed life very negatively and I never dared to venture into new opportunities, only staying within very safe boundaries until a much later part of my life.
When did you feel the least confident about yourself?
I was the least confident when I was in my 20s, when a serious vertigo attack caused my hearing to deteriorate further. At that point, I just attained my degree and thought things were getting better for me. When I lost more of my hearing, I felt like a failure and sank into depression and thought badly of myself.
It was only when I completed my first marathon that I became more confident. Running a marathon was tough, but when I adjusted my mindset and gave myself more chance, I achieved a lot of things. So when my then-director gave me an opportunity to work on a new project and it was a big success, I was overjoyed. From then onwards, I always work with a “I can do it” mindset.
Do you get any comments about your body?
In secondary school, my nickname used to be “Olive Oyl”, the girlfriend of Popeye. That was because I was thin and tall like her. I did not mind at first until one day my classmates told me Olive Oyl was flat like a bamboo stick, then I realised that was what they thought about me. Somehow at that point, I was able to ignore the comment and subsequently it was forgotten as I did not react to the comment.
Singapore #Fitspo of the Week: Wendy Yeo. (PHOTO: Cheryl Tay)
