A new challenge

Hello there, I have been tardy with updating this recently but I wanted to share with you a new physical challenge I have committed to, at the end of September.

Had you asked the 301 pound me of 7 years ago whether I could see myself running, I would have laughed and replied with a resounding, 'NO!' Walking any distance was hard enough and running was so out of my reach I could barely envisage it. So here I am, March 2012 and tomorrow I am officially commencing training for my first marathon.

My brother is an exercise nut and has run marathons, competed in triathlons and off road mountain biking events. He is one of my biggest inspirations and continues to be to this day, despite me being able to keep up with him (some of the time ;) ) I will never forget watching him cross the finish line of the Snowdonia Marathon in Wales. He was weeping with exhaustion (Snowdonia is purported to be one of the toughest marathons in Europe due to the hilly topography.) He was bleeding, his legs were trembling but, not only did he finish it, but in a really good time. I felt so proud of him and really wanted to experience the jubilation of completing such a physically challenging event.

So, I went to visit my brother in the West Country a couple of weeks back and he took me running up some rather steep and lengthy hills. I managed it fairly well and was suitable impressed with my renewed love of running and my increased endurance. I have only started running again in the last 2 months. During the low points with the anemia, I could barely run 500 metres let alone 26 miles (god love those little ferrous tablets!)

He outlined that himself and a friend had entered the Loch Ness Marathon in Scotland. He asked me whether I wanted to enter too, I found myself saying, 'YES!' After thoughts were telling me I was crazy but running a marathon has been one of my main goals since getting fit and I thought that there is no where else more beautiful than Scotland to complete my first one. I have completed a half marathon in 2008 and that was pretty hard, although I managed the 13.2 miles in 2 hours 14 minutes.

Loch Ness is a truly spectacular back drop for any event, the Loch itself is over 23 miles long and is surrounded by epic scenery.








So the training starts as of tomorrow and I must admit I am ever so slightly afraid. I am pretty fit at the moment and the cross training I have been doing has paid dividends to my overall strength and endurance. The me of now, compared to 4 months ago, is unrecognisable in terms of my endurance. I am currently running a maximum of 4.5 miles so only another 21.5 to get to the marathon distance!

Marathon training has to be rigorously structured, my brother sent me an email last night with the training plan attached, ending with the sentence, 'if you don't hate running by the time the marathon comes around then you have not trained hard enough.' It will be a constant 6 months of running pretty much, bar the obligatory rest day once a week. I will not run the full marathon distance at any point during the training. It comprises tempo runs with fartlek session (short, sprint session) longer, endurance runs and slower runs to fat burn. Excess body fat is not a long distance runners friend and so I will become pretty lean come September. I am starting a diet plan to enhance my performance and so I am cutting out the junk food I have been eating quite regularly as of late. More protein, vitamins, water, minerals and carbs will be introduced again to give my body a fighting chance!

So that is the news, I once again look back and the me of old and wonder how I got here. A lot of blood, copious amounts of sweat and many tears but I cannot wait to test my body further :)

L xx