I live in
the South West with my husband Arran. I had 25
years of inactivity and had never run before... ever... not even for a
bus! I started running in 2010 to help
my weight loss after joining weight watchers (I managed to lose 4 stone in 9
months). I used the couch to 5K
programme and although it was hard I persevered and before I knew it I was
running for half an hour. Not long after
I was persuaded to sign up for the Brighton Marathon by my friend Julia (who is
obviously a very bad influence!).
Although my training was far from ideal and riddled with injures at the
start, I ran and completed the Brighton Marathon in 4hr 40mins. It was the best (albeit hardest and most
painful) experience of my life. With the
adrenaline still flowing, the next day I signed up to do it all again in
2012.
A month
before my wedding I stopped running – I just decided not to go out one day, and
that one missed session turned into two, which turned into a week and
culminated in me not doing any exercise for six months and piling on 1.5
stone! It wasn’t until February 2012
that I finally rediscovered my mojo and embarked upon a mission to regain my
fitness. IT IS HARD WORK!! It is also slightly depressing that it took
me all that time to achieve a level of fitness which disappeared so quickly and
now I am starting again from scratch but now with a determination never to let
myself fall so far again. I have been
running consistently for the last 2 months only 12 miles a week, but it’s a
start.
Then came
the decision to do an autumn marathon to give me something to aim for and keep
me motivated. Why not a shorter distance
race I hear you cry... well, I like a challenge and enjoy seeing how far I can
push my body and mind. So, I decided on
the New Forest Marathon as it comes highly recommended (if somewhat
undulating!) and because I managed to persuade one of my sisters to do the half
marathon.
Not one to go
at things half heartedly, I then decided, why do one when you can do three...
thats right despite not even being able to run around the block I decided it
would be a great idea to do a marathon in Sept, a second in October and a third
in November – with about 4 weeks between each.
While I realise I have no consistent running base from which to tackle
these feats of endurance, I figure it will be fun to see whether my body can be
pushed to achieve this.
The grand
plans do not stop there... oh no!! Here
is a quick summary of the planned madness...
- July 2012 - Super Sprint Triathlon
- Aug 2012 - Sprint Triathlon
- Sept 2012 - New Forest Marathon
- Oct 2012 - Dartmoor Vale Marathon
- Nov 2012 - Cornish Marathon
2013 - Jurassic Costal Challenge (78.6 miles over three days), 2 - 3 marathons, sprint, olympic and middle distance triathlon
2014 - Ironman!
Due to
having my first ever triathlons this year, my training will include cycling and
swimming which will also be great cross training for my running ambitions. I am hoping that the cross training will help
improve my fitness and help prevent injury – as I seem to be running-injury
prone! The plan at the moment is:
- Run 4 x week
- Swim 2-3 x week
- Cycle 2 x week
- Strength training 2 x week
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