What's in a name?
- georgiatindley
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
When trying to think of a name for my coaching business I played around many options more obvious than Cailleach Coaching: Tindley Coaching, GT Coaching, Summit Fever... None of them felt quite right.
One afternoon I was researching the Gaelic names of places near where I live (aka procrastinating). Just a few miles down the road, in the hills behind Newtonmore, is a group of Munros. My favourite of the three is A'Chailleach, meaning 'old woman'.
Initially, this made me laugh and I privately started referring to myself as A'Chailleach. Objectively, in my thirties, I'm not old - but in terms of my running career I do feel old. My twenties were spent training hard, racing intensely and globetrotting around mountain ranges, but in the past few years my motivation has dwindled. What began as a season off, became two, then three, years off international competition.
I still love running and run every day that I am able to. But the drive to push my limits? It's fading. Instead I find myself choosing slower paces, with friends or my dog, chatting along the way, pausing to take it all in. I delight in sitting down to take in the view. I now only enter races that excite me and fit around my plans. I am making peace with the fact that I'm not as fast as I once was (slowly, this is easier said than done it turns out).
It was in this new stage of my ever evolving relationship with running that my thoughts started to turn to coaching. The name Cailleach Coaching started to feel quite fitting.
Cailleach Coaching to reflect this new phase of my running journey.
Cailleach Coaching after my nearest munro.
Cailleach Coaching as a nod to Scotland.
The more I looked into it the better it seemed. A more literal translation of Cailleach is 'divine hag', an oxymoron which I found both amusing and empowering. What if there is beauty in growing older?
Then I thought of all of the wonderful women I have encountered through my work for Girls on Hills. As a running guide I have met a wide mix of female clients and guides, most of whom are a little older than me and all of whom inspire me. In particular I admire their strength in continuing to run whilst juggling the complexities of being a woman in your 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond.
Girls on Hills work with women who are navigating fertility issues and returning to activity after miscarriages. Women with young children and hectic home lives, who use running to carve out a bit of time for themselves. We work with women of all ages who are navigating changing bodies and fluctuating hormones, especially those in peri-menopause and menopause. These women prove that there is beauty in aging, that it is possible to be a 'divine hag'. In the future, I hope to undertake female specific qualifications and to specialise in coaching women through different life stages.
Then, I started to delve further (I'm really a good at procrastinating). I learnt that I'd been pronouncing Cailleach wrong: 'kal-yuch' not 'kai-lach'. I learnt that in Scottish mythology the Cailleach is associated with bringing wild winter weather and creating the mountainous landscape. The story goes that as she traversed Scotland stones fell from her creel and became mountains and that the first snow of winter is her laying her freshly washed cape upon the ground. All very fitting for a mountain runner, a trail running coach and a run guide who emphasises respect for the weather and the mountains.
In some accounts she carried rocks from Norway to create the Western Isles. My family has had strong ties to Lewis for over 60 years. It is where I fell in love with Scotland, the area where I have spent the most time, and a part of me is always longing to be there.
The Cailleach is also said to care for Scotland's nature; illustrations often show her herding deer, protecting wolves and bestowing fertility. Yet she is not seen as a benevolent figure. She is not kind, nor is she wicked. She is neither good nor bad, but she is respected and sometimes feared.
I started to see a woman subverting patriachal definitions of the feminine ideal. A woman who cares for animals and creates life, but who is also independent, fierce, determined and powerful. A woman who is beautiful not for her looks, but for her strength.
In 2021 Kirsty Logan wrote 'The Longest Night'. There she tells the tale of the Cailleach through a LGBT+ lens and writes:
"But what is a hag but a woman who is not Quite what she is supposed to be".
Needless to say, by this point I didn't care if the name was unclear or difficult to pronounce. I was sold on 'Cailleach Coaching'. What is a female runner if not a woman not quite what she is supposed to be?
As the bringer of winter, constantly at odds with the goddess of spring, the Cailleach represents the seasons. She is active betwen the longest day and the shortest day, whereupon she retires for six months. She embodies living with nature's rhythms and balancing periods of rest with periods of activity.
This sense of structure is essential to the role of a coach, who plans periods of varying intensity to bring out the best in their athletes. It also mirrors my approach to running and coaching in the emphasis on sustainability. Too often I have seen runners burn bright and then burn out. Popular running advice often suggests more miles, more sessions, more sports. With Cailleach Coaching I hope to guide runners to achieve their best in a sustainable manner: prioritising quality over quantity, creating effective plans that don't monopolise client's free time, understanding that adequate rest and fuel are essential to running faster.
Finally, the Cailleach is frequently described as having only one eye. This single eye gives her insight and perception which she uses to heal emotional trauma in individuals and communities. I know firsthand the meditative benefits running has in times of trauma and will always advocate for movement as a tool for clarity, community and healing.
'What's in a name?' Shakespeare's line argued that a name is nothing more than a label, but in Cailleach Coaching I've found a name that embodies the spirit, style and ambitions of my coaching. It seems a good place to start.
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