Normal Girl Running

No question, when I started running, it was motivate by weight loss. Over the last two years, I have consistently lost weight while increasing my mileage but it has been a very gradual approach.

Let’s get numbers out of the way: I weighed in post-Christmas at 159-160 pounds, slightly over my post-Half marathon weight of 157 pounds. I woke up on marathon day weighing in 152.5 pounds. My original goal was to get to as close to 150 as possible, that bit closer to a longer-term goal of 145 lbs (my racing weight as calculated according to the book by Matt Fitzgerald).

Note: I am 5’ 7” and my lowest recorded adult weight is  ~135 lbs in university, albeit post-hospitalization with GI issues. It was not a good look thanks to muscle wastage.

I weighed in this morning at 155 lbs. and that is the weight that I would like to now maintain.

The funny thing is that it may only be 6 pounds but it has made a huge difference to how my clothes fit – I’ve lost at least a size on both the top and the bottom. Most of my clothes were getting too big at Christmas and now I’m swimming in most of them. 

I went into marathon training with my eyes open around weight loss. I know weight gain in marathon training but I didn’t want to fall into the trap of rewarding myself with food.  I would say that my appetite stayed under control until April (20-25 miles per week),  it totally moved up a gear when I moved into the 30+ miles weeks. I often woke up hungry, I thought about food A LOT (unless I was thinking about running) and it could feel tortuous waiting to eat.

In short, it took A LOT of discipline to manage my appetite and focus on eating quality foods.

Food as Fuel:

Since I started  losing weight three (!) years ago, I have moved away from eating big meals to eating much lighter meals and supplementing with a 11:00 and 4:00 snack. 

With the increased appetite during marathon training, I ended up significantly increasing the number of snacks but not the size of my meals. Cue me becoming the snack master:

Breakfast 7:00am: GF toast + natural peanut butter (170 cal)

8:00 am: Skinny double-shot cappuccino on my way into work  (80 cal)

10:30 am: Small handful of almonds (100-150 cal)

11:30 am: Couple of oatcakes, more almonds (70 cal + 100 cal)

Lunch 12:30 pm: usually combination of protein (smoked salmon/chicken/hardboiled egg) + salad + soup or 6 veggie sushi rolls + some fruit (500-600 cal), sometimes a coconut water

3:00 pm: small bag of popcorn (130 cal) 

4:00pm: Greek yogurt (160 cal)

5:30 pm: pre-run LARA bar (200 cal) or Go Nak’d bar (130 cal), depending on hunger levels

7:00-8:30 pm: run home

9:00pm dinner:  protein (steak/chicken/pork) + big salad + carb (potatoes/brown rice/corn tortillas) + green veg (400-450 cal)

Post-dinner snack: 1-2 oatcakes + cheese or handful chocolate buttons (200 cal)

Total calories in: about 2,050 -2,600

Total calories out: ranging 400-1,000

All those small snacks add up, meaning half of my calories in a typical day come from meals and half come from snacking. Hmm, is this good or bad? 

Call in the Experts

My coworker’s husband is a certified nutritionist and personal trainer who is used to working with active people. He kindly offered to look at my diet and make some recommendations for me based on what he read.

His advice was pretty straight forward. I need to increase the size of my breakfast and possibly lunch to better match my activity levels with my meals.  Dinners can stay light – I need to refuel properly from my runs but I don’t need to go crazy, maybe have a glass of skimmed milk while I am cooking. He was concerned I wasn't getting enough dark green veggies to help with iron and calcium absorption. Finally, he suggested getting retested for food intolerances because it might allow me to broaden my diet again.

Also, I have to start strength training once a week. According to Jayson, as a runner, I should be able to lift my own body weight (as in a pullup). HAHAHA. Time to bring on the squats and lunges – maybe adding this to the end of my Satruday runs, now they are shorter?

While my hunger levels are a bit more normalized, I am now making a real effort to eat the way he has suggested.  I’ve started taking pictures of everything that I eat to send him. 

Eating and Running

No question, running can be a great way to lose weight and it can be a good way to keep it off

Running a marathon might help you lose weight because it complements the work you are doing to improve your eating habits or other lifestyle factors.

Running a marathon might help you lose weight because you can compensate for disordered overeating like bingeing.

Running a marathon might help you lose weight because you can accelerate disordered undereating too.

However, three years later, weight loss and vanity are not what motivate me to keep signing up for races. I run to feel good about what my body can do for me physically and mentally, to feel strong and yes, it is a great way to stay active and stave off morbid obesity. Running helps give me structure and control giving into temptation because most vices negatively affect running performance. But weight loss or vanity doesn’t motivate me to fight onwards on bad runs and it certainly didn’t get me across that finish line last month.

It's hard to believe that it has been two weeks since I crossed that finishing line. In some ways, it feels like a lifetime ago but on the other hand, that sprint to the finishing line feels so fresh.

This was obviously taken at the start, hence the excitement in my eyes and the waistband stuffed with fuel. 

Despite my only average recovery efforts - some compression leggings post-race, some major rehydration and a hot bath with very little stretching and no icing - my body didn't fare too badly. The day after the race, I was stiff but I would say the worst day was the following Wednesday (T+3). By Friday and Saturday however, I was feeling pretty normal. Except when I needed to go down stairs.That was all kinds of awkward. 

On Friday, I went back to the massage therapist. She helped work out the tension in my calves, quads and hip flexors but in reviewing my experience with the race suggested that my foot numbness at Mile 9 was a symptom of heat stroke – your body regulates temperature by pulling blood from your extremities, meaning that my injured foot was deprived of its higher-than-usual blood supply. Hence, the numbness. She theorized that I was fighting heat stroke from much earlier than I had realised – that if I hadn’t slowed down when I did, I probably would have struggled even more with finishing.  Hmm.

Race review:

The Edinburgh Marathon festival includes multiple events, including a fun run, a 5km and 10km on Saturday, and both a Half and Full Marathon on the Sunday. This was the race’s 10th year and there were over 30,000 runners registered for the two Sunday events.

The course:

The Half and full both leave from central Edinburgh and then turn out to the coast where it turns into an out-an-back along the East Lothian coast. The first three or so miles are a bit hilly and there is a bridge around mile four but it is otherwise uneventful. By mile five, the course flattens out and you are running directly beside the ocean along a coastal path. This is a popular running and biking path, so it is pretty wide but it is also very exposed to the elements. Around mile eight,  the course moves inland towards the town of Musselburgh. The initial few miles go through the town and its outlying suburbs before about the out-and-back starts about mile ten. From mile thirteen, you are running along the coastal highway for all but about 0.75 mile at the turnaround point, which is run along a trail in the woods. These sections are quite narrow because they are used for two-way runner traffic.

The crowd support was really strong until the out-and-back section but it was well-marshaled, so you didn’t feel alone. There were plenty of volunteers along the course and at the water stations, which ran quite smoothly. I appreciated that water was often available on both sides of the course, which minimizes collisions or bottlenecks.

The crowds were fantastic, especially in the town of Musselburgh itself. People cheered from their lawns, played music, gave out water and candy, and ran their sprinklers or hoses over us as we ran past. I’m not sure if I would have made it through miles 23-25 if it hadn’t been for the Jelly Babies people gave me.*

Jelly Babies are like a British version of Jube Jubes, except with no artificial colours thanks to the European Union food safety board and in the shape of tiny people.

The positives:

The race start was very well organized and corrals were clearly marked. There were lots of portapotties and marshals to tell runners where to go. In fact, the marshaling was excellent throughout the course. The water stations were well-spaced out and well-managed by volunteers.

The medals and finishers t shirts were excellent. I feel like the brass colour is an excellent neutral and goes with everything.

I kid, I'm not actually wearing it on a daily basis but I totally would if I could.

The finish line was really well supported and the energy was fantastic. I felt like a rockstar crossing the finish line.

Edinburgh really is a beautiful city – it makes for a great weekend trip and I wish that I had longer to explore more of it while I was in town. Also, it is quite a small city, so everything is pretty close when you are looking to get around. My cab home from the post-race drinks was £5, which made the weekend a bit easier on the wallet.

The negatives

This race let itself down in a few key logistical areas. Firstly, the race was scheduled with a 8:00 am start for the Half and 10:00 am start for the Full.  This meant during the hottest part of the day, which is completely illogical. Why they didn’t start at the same time or with the Half afterwards, I do not understand. The large number of heat stroke victims would have been reduced significantly if we had the earlier start. It was tough to watch so many people at the sidelines receiving medical attention, particularly along the highway stretch – it looked like something out of a war movie.

Everything after the moment I collected my medal was a nightmare. The exit from the course into the general finishing area was insanely crowded because there were hundreds of finishers exiting in the same area that others were lining up for food. This was totally unnecessary and made the 20 minutes after finishing completely miserable.

The selection of food at the course was okay but I’m glad that I’m not a vegetarian – it was a lot of burgers or meat but it would have been nice to have some healthier options too. Maybe there aren't many people who want veg when finish a race (I really craved Greek salad with super-salty Feta cheese) but it would have been nice to have a few other options.

The shuttle bus situation back into town was a joke. Firstly, the walk to the pickup area was close to a mile (UPHILL) away from the finish, in the wrong direction (i.e. away and not towards town). This meant that once you got on the bus, you were stuck in all the road closures around the finish line, adding probably 20 minutes to the journey. Further, the bus pickup area was terribly managed. There were not enough staff to manage the people buying tickets as they loaded. Why didn’t they have people going up the lineups to manage ticket transactions or have two lineups, for people with and without tickets? Also, I don’t want to be rude here but surely the finishers should have been given priority over spectators going back into town by say, limiting how many spectators could get on the bus at any one time. The line up was probably 45-60 mins, although I got around this by jumping on a city bus instead.

Would I do this race again?

No. It was too crowded and the post-race logistics were terrible, plus I found the out-and-back section of the course extremely dull.  I’ve taken a few lessons here for my next race.

1. Look to run a smaller or less crowded race- the congestion slowed me down and made the last six miles feel even longer

2. Look at races with off-road or trail sections. The trail section was my favourite part of the course. I have been covering somewhere between %75-80 of the distance on my long runs on trail and I like the variable terrain and cover from the elements. I am now on the lookout for a trail half marathon for the future.

3. I need more variety in a course to keep myself focused. I know that any marathon will include some boring stretches but too much of this course was the same.

4. Carrying water is worth the effort but next time I will carry more electrolytes. I dissolved found half of a Nuun in my handheld at mile 23 and I think that was what gave me the energy to finish.

5. In the future, I will evaluate potential races based on the FINISH, not on the START. Like a lot of people, nerves on race morning can translate to anxiety, so I was more concerned about the logistics of the start of this race. I hadn’t given any thought to the fact that the finishing area was outside of town  but spending 30 minutes lining up to board a bus that took over two hours to get back to the center of town??? Not ideal.

I am a marathoner.

Even though it has been barely 24 hours since I crossed the finish, I am repeating those words over and over in my mind in order to make it feel real.

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The honest truth is that this was not the race that I wanted. Six months of training, I was feeling stronger and fitter than I ever have. My legs were feeling good, the quads weren't too tight and the piriformis was holding back. My IT band was feeling a bit looser and maybe most importantly, my mind felt strong.

And then I pulled I ligament stepping out of the shower two days before my last scheduled 20 mile run. As I fell towards the bathroom floor, all I could think about was my RACE. The unfairness of the situation that I would injury myself doing something that I do every, single day four weeks before my first marathon.

  I thought I would spare the internet a picture of my injured ankle, so here is an artist’s impression and by artist, I mean me + a strong dose of Tylenol’s 3s. Also, those brown things represent chocolate buttons - my other medicine of choice the night of the incident.

I had to take a full 10 days off running and couldn’t cross train either, since moving my ankle up and down (or side-to-side) caused major pain. That ruled out – swimming, the elliptical, spinning, yoga or any other activity that involves your lower body. 

Maybe you noticed that I disappeared off the internet there, not even to whine or freak out about my injury. The reason is quite simply that a few days after my run-in with the bathroom floor, a dear runner friend of mine was in a terrible accident while riding his Vespa into work. He suffered a dislocated ankle, a broken collarbone, a fractured nose and a minor head injury. Frankly, he was lucky not to be killed. He called me from the hospital and asked me to come to the hospital to pick up his stuff but I had no idea how bad the accident was until I came into urgent care and found him very battered and bloody.

He has been told it could be three months before he is walking without the cast and potentially a year before he is running. 

I truly feel grateful that I could run this marathon at all and as hard as it was to line up three corrals back from where I wanted, I just knew this wasn't going to be the race I had been training for.

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The week leading up to the race, I dipped my toes back into running. I managed a 9 miler last weekend and while I was uncomfortable the next day, it was my quads and IT band that were the angriest. Three weeks off yoga meant a lot of stiffness had moved in.  The result was a terrible run Thursday night that was cut short after 2 miles and a panicked email sent to a massage therapist for Friday night. She fit me in for the last appointment of the day and in addition to loosening up my quads and hip flexors, she was kind enough to tape up my ankle and calf with KT tape. 

I thought I looked badass and intimidating. My flatmate disagreed and suggest that hot pink wasn’t the best choice for looking tough, even if it matches your race day outfit.

I managed a comfortable 2 miles at race pace on Saturday morning before getting myself off to the train up to Edinburgh. I was on a 3:00 pm train, so I got my carb on for lunch – eating a pretty big salad with chicken, baby potatoes and avocado. I've learned now that I am better off with a big, carb-y lunch the day before a long run, rather than a big carb-y dinner. I just don’t sleep well with a big meal inside of me and um, there are more likely to be bathroom issues in the morning. I ate a few substantial snacks on the train too, including a large fresh fruit cup, a Greek yogurt and some plain salted chips. I then had a large veggie omelette and two pieces of toast with a glass of pink lemonade Nuun for dinner.  Oh and some oat cakes with humus as a snack.

I slept really well Saturday night, falling asleep just after 11:00 but waking up bang on 5:05 am. I think it was nerves, so I ate a spoonful of peanut buter and a banana before drifting off back to sleep. I woke up again at 7:00 and bounced out of bed, feeling pretty damn rested and excited to see clear skies and sunshine outside.

I slept really well Saturday night, falling asleep just after 11:00 but waking up bang on 5:05 am. I think it was nerves, so I ate a spoonful of peanut butter and a banana before drifting off back to sleep. I woke up again at 7:00 and bounced out of bed, feeling pretty damn rested and excited to see clear skies and sunshine outside.

I got showered, dressed and ate a peanut butter and jelly toasted sandwich with about a quarter cup of coffee.  I was staying with a friend of my mom’s, who was kind enough to come down to the start with me and carry around my post-race bag, so that I could skip the bag check.  We arrived about an hour before the race start at 10:00 and I was able to use some portapotties before the lines started and get stretched.

The Plan:

Based on my half marathon results, I knew 4:00-4:05 was unrealistic and if it hadn’t been for my injury, I would have been in a good position for 4:10-4:15.

Seeing I was averaging my training runs in the 9:55-10:00 range,  I decided to aim for 9:35-9:45 for the first 10 miles and then evaluate if I could speed up for the next ten or keep the same until mile 20, where I would do whatever I could to keep going forward. My goal was a 2:07-2:09 first half, speeding up for the second half but with some room for a bathroom stop or walking through water stations. 

The Reality:

This is the story of two races run back-to-back. The first 10 miles were beautifully, evenly paced and went exactly to plan:

However, like a switch being thrown, suddenly I was NOT okay. My stomach started cramping for no reason during mile 10 and we entered a very exposed part of the course. I decided to slow down and also, picked up water from the first station I could to throw over my head. I also became aware that my right foot (the injured one) was going numb with some radiating pain around my right knee. I noticed that my landing was quite compromised on the right side, with my kneecap pointing way to the right. Miles 11-12 were pretty tough, between the heat, stomach cramping and the knee pain, so I finally gave into the porta-potty during mile 12.

Mile 13, despite being a bit speedier, is when I realized that my ankle was not going to allow me to push the pace and I resigned myself to a run/walk strategy. That was very tough to accept but I was very aware that the heat and pain was making my heart race, so if I wanted to finish, I had to manage my body’s basic needs – hydration, fuel, temperature and pain. The time had come to put aside my ego or I would end up like one of the MANY runners who were being attended by the medics on the side of the road.

Half split: 2:12: 01

Miles 14 to 20 were pretty brutal. The Edinburgh course takes you through very little of the city you head out to the coast and run along the ocean until you reach the town of Musselburugh, where the course then becomes a long out-and-back along the ocean highway. The course is pretty exposed, which means the wind can be pretty fierce off the ocean or as in the case of yesterday, the sun can really beat down on you. Also, the scenery is pretty monotonous and it made this out-and-back feel very long. The best part was when we turned around through a trail through the forest  The trees offered a relief from the sun and my feet seemed to just take over being back on the familiarity of trail-style track. I am so happy that I did this on my long runs because from the number of people around me walking (try 75-80% of the people around me), this put me at a real advantage.

I had been able to maintain two miles of running before stopping to walk until mile 17, where my foot and now whole right calf would not let me keep going, as much as my quads and hamstrings were still holding together.

30km (18 mile) split: 3:15:16

The last six miles were absolutely brutal, not because I hit a wall or because I didn't have the energy or the fight but because my right foot, knee and calf wouldn't allow it. I couldn't feel pain exactly but I was very aware of my pulse, which would start to race after about 5-6 minutes of running, no matter how much I focused my effort on breathing. That gave me about 0.8 of a mile and then I would have to walk to bring my heart rate under control.

This how I managed for the last 8 miles of the race – run, feel good, feel strong and then realize my heart was pounding out of my chest. Stop, walk, stretch. Take water. Repeat. Also, eat all the jelly babies that I could get my hands on from spectators because I was so SICK of the taste of my Shot Blocks.

As it was happening, I was feeling so discouraged and upset that I had lost so much fitness during my rest from running. I was being really hard on myself and swearing to build more miles, do more cross training etc. before the next marathon that I do (spoiler alert, I do plan to run another marathon . Probably this year.)

As soon as I crossed the Mile 26 marker, I instantly felt better. I was determined to not walk that mile and was running really strong until the 0.9 mark when I had to stop for a short walk. I had been running a 9:15 min/mile pace but my final split is 9:42, so it was probably about 30 seconds of walking before I came round a corner and could hear the roar of the crowds.

I picked up running again and turned to corner to see the finish sign. Suddenly, I realized that I was a short sprint away from being a marathoner. t took off with the biggest, stupidest smile on my face.

And with that 4 hours, 39 minutes and 34 seconds, I became a marathon finisher.

The moment of silence at the start of London Marathon in memory of the victims of the Boston Bombings. 

When people ask me how I got started running, I usually give the short answer, the easy answer: I was having an early mid-life crisis/late quarter-century crisis and decided to sign up for a half marathon. The truth is much more complicated and directly tied to the London marathon.

My dad passed away in May of 2010 from terminal cancer but I was as prepared as I could be, since we had been given six months to say goodbye. However, the same morning that Dad left us, my uncle Steve (Dad’s brother) collapsed on his usual morning coffee run. He never gained full consciousness and died five days later. Shock set in, I was overwhelmed with grief and my body shut down all real feeling, each day was about surviving. Each day was about not feeling so far away from my home and my family.

By the beginning of 2011, I was looking for something to shape my life and feel it had purpose again. I didn’t know what I wanted to do but I knew I needed a change and that I wanted to do something to remember my Uncle and my Dad. On Marathon Sunday, I happened to turn on the TV at the beginning of the race coverage. The stories about ordinary people running in memory of lost mothers, fathers and children completed absorbed me. My boyfriend at the time came into the living room a few times and found in the throes of hysterical sobbing. Major puffy eyes, crumpled Kleenex and the only words I could manage were incoherently strung together sentences like “His little baby granddaughter... and she died... and it’s his first marathon...”. The seeded was planted.

About a week later, I was walking into work and a charity headquartered next to my office was handing out flyers soliciting volunteer runners for the London Royal Parks Half Marathon in October. I took one and found myself doing the math – could I train for a 21 km in less than six months? Next thing I knew, I had written a heartfelt application to the Alzheimer’s Society, asking them to choose me for a charity place. I wanted to run in memory of Uncle Steve, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s 18 months before he died, and my Dad because his mind and capacity for learning have always been inspirational to me. 

Last year I spectated London Marathon with admiration and respect for the runners, knowing the hard work, discipline and sacrifice it took to get there.

This year I spectated London Marathon to cheer on friends and members of my running club, feeling this was my community and my people who needed support. It was about finding inspiration in friends’ accomplishments.

London Marathon was also about showing strength in the face of cruelty and terror, following the events in Boston. The horror of the event has resolved our commitment to running and for me, helped me to solidify my goals as a runner over the next few years.

My fellow club runners are so inspiring. I am very lucky to run with very talented people – one of our guys came 79th overall, running on Sunday in 2 hours and 35 minutes. Another guy came in at 3 hours and 19 minutes, which is pretty damn amazing given he sprained his ankle on a water bottle at mile 5!

I will put myself into the ballot again for London marathon in 2014 and yes, probably be rejected again but one day I will run it and the wait will make crossing that iconic finish line on the Mall that much sweeter.

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Training update:

Edinburgh Marathon is now a month away. I’ve got to say that I am REALLY, REALLY excited about it. The running endorphins were in major overload last weekend – I went to the expo on Friday night to pick up new shoes (Mizuno Wave Inspires 9, my new loves) and to get a cheap sports massage. My new shoes are heaven and so very pretty too, you know, not that it matters.

They were offering 15 minute sports massage for £15. My masseuse gave me about ten minutes extra for free to fill the time before he left for the night, since I was one of the last appointments on the books. An ex-cabbie from North London, my new BFF Alan had firm hands and strong opinions about immigration, both of which he was happy to share. I have one of those faces that people are comfortable talking to, including about highly contentious social issues, so I’m kind of used to this. I just lay back and enjoyed the sight of thirty fit, mostly male runners, walking around in their underpants in the massage area.

Saturday had 20 miles on the plan. I was up early to throw back a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (new thing I’m trialling) and half a cup of coffee. My plan was to keep  it very slow and easy for the first 15 and pick it up for the last 5. I managed to do something similar for my 18 miler (15 slow, with final 3 faster) and to be honest, running the last 3 miles quickly was sweet relief to know I could be done sooner.

Something went a bit wrong in the running math because I ended up kicking it up a bit too soon, after mile 12. Averaging everything before then in the high 9:50s and low 10:00s, I went sub 10:00 there for a miles 13 (9:56), 14 (9:53), 15 (9:14, oops), 16 (9:07, really oops) and 17 (9:18), where I then hit a big-ass wall . Looking at the next two splits – 9:29 for mile 18 and 9:35 for mile 19 – it is all there splashed out in data form.

I seriously thought I was going to die and my mind went to some dark place. Not helped, I would add, by realizing I had miscalculated my route, meaning that I was going to finish almost three miles from home. I’m not proud of this but at mile 19 (9:35), I got on a damn bus and collapsed. Does it make it better that I sprinted for the bus? No, didn’t think so.

The regret started immediately after sitting down. I thought about how angry I would be with myself giving up so close to the finish because close really doesn’t count for anything in a marathon, does it?

I got OFF the bus in front of my local park and ran a loop round it four times to make up the mile, counting over and over to four in my head. Mile 20: 10:35

Long run: 20.01 miles in 3:18:20, average pace of 9:54

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This weekend, I ran 18 determine to get my mental strategy on board. Project Suck-It-Up, if you will. Having slept through my alarm, I didn’t get off until a slightly rushed 11:30am.

I am very (VERY) happy to report that this 18-miler went really well. I took in half a LARA bar at mile 8, second half at mile 13 and then some shot blocks at mile 16. I finished hungry, which means I have to take on a bit more fuel towards the second half of my run going forward. First run in a long time with no stomach cramping – yeah! And drum roll please... No bathroom stop!!! That is seriously the longest I have ever run without stopping for the bathroom.  Forget anything else, this might be my greatest accomplishment of this training cycle.

Long run: 18.02 miles in 2:56:45, average pace of 9:49

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Total mileage so far this month: 119.1

1)      Croydon Half Marathon 

So guess who ran a half marathon last weekend? Me!

I just had this nagging feeling that I needed a race to take inventory of where I am in my training. Someone in my running club mentioned this race and it fit the criteria perfectly: close to Central London and easy to get to, hilly (Edinburgh’s marathon course is notoriously hilly for the first 6 miles) and on the smaller side in terms of participation (less than 1,000 people).

I rocked up Sunday morning at 8:15 quite sleep-deprived (thanks to my punky neighbours throwing a house party until 3:00 am) to find a very well organized and friendly race start. The queue to collect my race number and chip took less than 10 mins, so I had plenty of time to stretch, change outfits and use the porta-potty. 

The course was made of three loops, one short loop to begin and then two identical longer loops, mostly through suburban neighbourhoods and along some busy roads. The traffic was not closed off on the route, meaning you had to keep to the pavements.

Like any race, the start was a mad rush of runners going out way too quick. I had put myself at the back of the 1:49-1:59 group and felt like I was crawling along for the first three miles, as runners flew past.

Mile 1: 8:50, Mile 2: 8:42, Mile 3:8:55

We weren’t allowed headphones  and all around me, I could hear the heavy panting of people who were waaayyy over-exerting themselves. I decided that with the hills, I would avoid looking at my watch too much and focus on effort. The looping course helped and I tried to remember the hill profile going round the first time (spoiler alert, I wasn't totally successful at this) in order to keep enough juice in the tank. 

Miles 4: 9:34, Mile 5: 8:53, Mile 6: 8:53

I knew I was a little head of pace but I was feeling strong and my breathing was collected. 

I wasn't committed to a fueling strategy before heading off, packing a LARA bar and Shot Blocks for the race. I felt confident with just the shot blocks and got to mile 8 before taking three of them. However, this caused my mouth to basically glue shut, until some water from the next water station restored my ability to mouth breathe. 

Something about the water-Shot-block combo made my stomach start to feel really heavy. The hills were pretty bad at this point and I pulled back a bit on my pace to keep effort levels steady.

Mile 7: 9:34, Mile 8: 8:55, Mile 9: 9:23

Mile 10 things started to go a bit more wrong with my stomach. It started to move from heavy-feeling to cramping. Also, the hills got bad. I was starting to suffer and check my watch every 0.20 miles. 

Mile 10: 10:17, Mile 11: 8:54

The sign for mile twelve was sweet relief because the stomach cramping was getting bad. And then I hit another hill.

Mile 12: 9:37

Now this is where the wheels fell off. My stomach was really hurting and I gave into walking AGAIN, hoping to calm my breathing as I came to the crest of the hill. I didn't realize my watch was really off the course markings until I got to the top and saw a '400 meters to go' sign. What now?? I unexpectedly crossed the line thirty seconds or so  later.

Mile 13:9:31

Official Finish time: 2:00:05, Average pace: 9:14

Elevation Gain: 708 feet versus Elevation loss: 692 feet - TOLD YOU IT WAS HILLY

That few thousandths hurts. BAH. While this is still a PR (previous record of 2:03:50 in November), it is hard to have come thiiisss close to a sub-2:00 hour half

There are lots of positive though right? Clearly all this marathon training has helped me to become a much better runner.Pacing is about effort, not about numbers on a Garmin, right??

Secondly, I now have a much better handle on how little water or fuel my body needs for those distances. I have clearly been over-hydrating in the past, hence the lack of porta potty stops on this run.  

Finally, I was able to trial my race outfit. I have a new Lululemon running skirt for the marathon but it has been too cold to trial. No chaffing, excellent pocket ratio with added novelty factor in this country. Fellow runners (mostly women), course marshals, spectators and some random people driving by, all shouted compliments as I went by. It really is more fun to pass people when you are wearing a skirt, sorry that I am not more sorry.

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I will run a sub-2:00 and honestly, I do believe if this had been a flatter finish, I would have done it yesterday. If I could find another small half before taper begins in May, I will very likely do it.

Marathon training update:

My body is still holding together, despite the 250+ miles that I have put it through since January 1st. 

There are a few niggles here and there but the IBT friction syndrome is under control, the piriformis is holding back and my quads seem to have loosened up a bit. Since leaving the gym this month, I have been trialing a wonderful yoga studio in Chelsea called Triyoga. Gold stars for this kid: four yoga classes in the last two weeks. 

Edinburgh Marathon is seven weeks away, meaning four solid weeks to build up peak mileage and trying to not eat all the food. Thank God

Mini Egg season is finally over.

Scenes from my weekend:

Lining up to start. Wait, where are the corrals?? HOW DO I KNOW WHERE TO GO. Oh no, its okay because there are signs. Phew. 

Now that's how you refuel - delicious runny poached eggs in some homemade heuvos rancheros. Perfect racing weather, good race, delicious lunch and amazing couch nap?? Recipe for the perfect day. 

When I discovered my oversight, a quick Google led me to a running shop fifteen minutes from my office and fifteen minutes before closing. Feeling this was some kind of sign, I hustled off quickly, only to arrive as they were locking up. Sad face.  Now before we give the fine people of RunnersNeed a hard time, I had gotten lost on my way and ended up arriving about five minutes after closing. My appalling sense of direction is becoming one of the biggest hurdles to my training, huh?

Tonight I am going to tack extra mileage onto my tempo run for 6 miles. The plan for the rest of the week will be spinning on Friday night and then a repeat of 15 miles for Saturday’s long run, with ten miles slow (10:00 mi pace) and then picking it up to 9:30 mi pace for the last five miles. I will round off the week with Lululemon yoga on Sunday morning.

  My body is now starting to crave that fourth run again, so this will be my last week with two complete rest days until taper in six (!!) weeks time.

This winter has been an unusual one in London because the cold and snow have continued as recently as last week. Normally, January is cold and dark but by the end of February, it warms up enough to just rain. All of the time. And then it usually continues raining for the first half of March before warming up (and drying out) in April. Watching my exhalations of breath like a tiny dragon.

I have slowly converted into a cold weather runner. I have grown used to pull on the Lulu Wunder Under fleeced-lined leggings, the long sleeves and packing a warmer layer in my running backpack or keeping warm afterwards. I am comfortable with all the layering, with running in the dark and hard-packed ground.

So imagine my surprise on Saturday morning to wake up to the sound of rain before my long run. No problems, I figured, it will stop because it spring rain hasn't arrived yet. Spoiler alert, my long run coincided with spring showers arriving.

Heading out Saturday morning, my goal was to keep it between 9:45-10:20 for the first 13 miles and to pick it up for the last 2.

I hopped off the bus and danced around to keep warm in the bus shelter while my Garmin took its usual 10 minutes to find satellite signal. Finally able to head off, I had to divert towards the way of the public toilets because a familiar grumble. And then the heavens opened. Myself and some friendly dog walking types took refuge in the toilets for the next 20 minutes, watching the rain bucket down, periodically warming myself on the handryer.

Finally I decided it was time to head off into the rainy abyss, thinking I could stay covered under the trees in the park.

Public Service Announcement #1: Don’t wear shiny white new socks and pristine shoes to run trails on a rainy day, if you want them to stay pristine.

Unfortunately this photo fails to capture the mud all up the side of my shins and up the back of my calves. I also skipped taking pictures of my filthy socks. You're welcome.

After 10 miles, I decided that the rain was probably light enough to risk heading out of the Park and towards home but to get the mileage in, I set out on a 4.5 mile loop along the side of the Thames path.

Let me just say that this marathon sh*t is getting real because 2.5 hours is a long time to run with nothing but your own thoughts for company. I had to work pretty actively to control the negative stuff (rain, mud, cold feet, odd digestive rumblings) but mostly the boredom. My hip flexors started to protest around the 12 mile mark but I am getting worryingly good at ignoring pain signals from them. The pain decreases when I pick up the speed, so the last few miles at 8:50-9:25 pace were actually much more comfortable.

Spring flowers! Almost makes the rain worth it. Almost.

Public announcement #2: don’t use old shot blocks that you have found in the back of your cupboard to fuel mid-run. Dry mouth + Dry Shot blocks = recipe for wiring your own jaw shut. I swear I am still finding strawberry flavouring in my wisdom teeth two days later. 

I am fiddling around with fueling at the moment, trying to find a way of avoiding using gels or too many shot blocks. Any experimentation with GU or even Gatorade/Lucozade has resulting in barfing or near-barfing (sorry but that is a great word) in the past... I don’t get the science because I am perfectly capable of putting back half a kilogram of Mini Eggs and I drink coffee, so it can’t be the sugar or caffeine.

Anyway, I plan to use a combination of my beloved LARA bars (not to worry, new supply is on its way from North America as I type) and shot blocks. For 15 miles, it was a LARA bar (apple pie) at mile 8, with 2 individual shot blocks at mile 11 and then 2 more individual blocks at mile 13. If I translate the calorie needs people get from gels (4-6 x 100 calorie gels) then I am going to need 400 calories of LARA bars and 1-2 packages of shot blocks for the final event. Fun times experimenting right?

Final stats: 15.06 miles in 2:31:27

Total mileage for the week: 22.99 mi

Way back in January, when I sat down to write my list of running resolutions, I decided that this would be the year that I would become more social as a runner. London has lots of runners and lots of running clubs but I’ve held back from trying them either because I am afraid of making a fool of myself OR because logistics get in the way. Logistics dictate how Londoners live their lives – where to meet friends for dinner, where to job hunt or what to do on the weekend is balanced against journey times on public transportation. If you think I am exaggerating, I had a candidate decline a job offer once with a significant pay raise because it would have added at least an hour each way of his commute. After tax, he was going to earn about £500 a week – or £100 a day – extra to travel an extra two hours away from his family.

My point is that the running clubs that I have found either organize group runs on weeknights that begin too early (seriously, who gets off work at 6:00pm these days??) or on weekends where the meeting location is outside of Central London. I might love running but not enough to get up at 7:30 am to get there on a Saturday.

Last week, I was eating lunch and ran a Google search for ‘Central London + Running Club’, only to find a new search result: London City Runners.

The club checked a lot of the boxes I was looking for: caters to a range of levels, weeknight, meets at 7:15 (meaning I can get there by leaving about 6:30 from my office), free and deliberately social in nature. I emailed the Club found and got a very friendly reply inviting me along on Tuesday night.

Exiting the Underground station, I pulled out my Apple mapping app and stumbled around this unfamiliar area of South London in attempts to get myself to meeting spot. Thankfully I found another slightly confused, Spandex-clad individual who was also furiously waving around his iPhone looking for signal. We introduced ourselves and headed off towards the bar together – it was his second run with the group and he had nothing but nice things to say.

When I arrived, I was shown where to put my stuff so that it could be locked up and then gathered with the others outside. I wasn’t sure which group of runners to go with - slowest group leaves first, with the next three groups leaving in a staggered fashion so that everyone finishes more closely together. The email had explained pacing works on the basis of your 10km racing time... which is a toughie seeing I haven’t run a 10km race in six years. I decided to be conservative and join the first group, met some nice girls at the front and enjoyed a leisurely chat for the first 0.5 mile or so. Our pace was in the 11:00-11:30 mile range and at the moment, I find running slowly is harder on my knees/quads than running more quickly (someone please explain that one). When the second group caught up and then passed us, I decided to tack on behind.

The route was fantastic – it takes you around Bermondsey to Tower Hill bridge (yep, the really famous one), past the Tower of London and along the river until you cross back into South London at the Millennium Bridge, passing the Tate Modern. I marked a guy that was running in front of me as the perfect pacer – he was about 30 seconds ahead and I could keep track of him along the winding and unfamiliar streets. While there were a few times that I worried I was following someone who wasn’t a club runner, I managed to pick my marks correctly.

What a great run – seriously, one of the best that I have had in a while. Yes, my knees were a bit achey (left hammy really demanded its share of the attention) but I felt strong and in control of my breathing. In the end, my splits came in at:

  Parts of my run felt fast but it was only when I looked down and saw a 7:47 pace on my Garmin that I realised actually, I was moving pretty quickly. My chief take away from the run itself is that I am actually probably faster than I give myself credit for. I have already noticed that marathon training has made me obsessed with the Long Run, so any gains in other areas tend to go unnoticed. However, nearly two months of solid speedwork is taking effect. Now I find myself asking, do I push harder or do I just keep using the guidelines I’ve been given for a 4:00 hour finish??

I was in a GREAT mood afterwards and ended up chatting with lots of different people. There was a mix of casual hobby joggers, occasional racers and competitive runners, including one guy who is running a championship 10km at the end of the month. It was a very unintimidating environment to meet new people in. And as should be expected with runners in a group setting, it took less than 10 minutes of conversation before we were talking about sh*tting in the woods. Remarkable how bodily functions can bring a group of strangers together.

I ended up staying on waayyy too late with a group of the faster guys (one just did a 1:26 Half!) at the bar afterwards, where I learned that a number of club members are signed up for the Edinburgh race weekend. They are plans in the works for a cheering section and social events. Yeah!

I will definitely go back next week and I will start in the second group – the guys figured I could probably move up to the third but I want to get to know the route a little bit better first.

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Otherwise, I am working to get my training back on track this week. I switched out my tempo run on Wednesday and took an extra rest day. I was planning to do a threshold session last night but a friend needed some emergency child care and I am not one to turn down the opportunity for baby snuggles.

Today I head back to Wimbledon Common for a 13 mile Long Run. 

I will see how I feel tomorrow before making a decision about yoga because this guy is back. My only goal would be to not cry during the class. True story.