About Me

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 Coastal 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