Guest blogger ‘Sporty Girl‘ talks about preparing for her first marathon.

On New Year’s Eve as we entered the year 2010 I declared that a lifestyle change was needed. Fast approaching 28, having lived in London for a number of years and having taken full advantage of all that this great city has to offer, my health and wellbeing had really started to suffer. I needed to curb my socialising and replace it with some good old fashioned exercise – something that, in my teenage years and early twenties, was a hugely important part of my life. 

The obvious starting point for me was to enter an event: something to train for and to get me motivated. So I entered a 10k ‘fun’ run. Not a competitive event, purely a social Sunday morning organised run for 250 relatively keen people.

Training was hard as I was out of shape, but as I got my distance up and focused on getting a bit faster each week, I felt that I had done myself proud on the day. I wouldn’t call the experience ‘fun’ though. It was painful and I hadn’t accounted for what a really large hill right in the middle of the course would do to me! But a week later I was asking myself ‘what’s next’? 

I had often talked about running my home town half marathon but was fearful of taking on such a big event as I knew I would have to take it seriously. And taking it seriously would mean I could kiss goodbye to Friday nights out and Saturday mornings lying in, in favour of an early night and an early morning run. Now surely this can not be considered a ‘fun’ run? If I take this on surely that makes me a bone fide athelete? But at which point do I start actually enjoying it?!

Two years on and I’m in the final stages of preparing for my first marathon. Along with Lazy Girl herself I will be participating in the Brighton marathon on Sunday 15th April and, as much as I expect it to be the toughest challenge of my life to date, I also think it will be the most rewarding. I’m so excited to get there and to get across that finish line. 

It’s been a long journey, but I can most certainly say taking up running has had a seriously positive impact on my life. My social life balances very carefully alongside my training plan, I can’t remember ever feeling fitter or healthier, I bore colleagues and friends to death every time I reach a new goal and, contrary to how I felt about my first running challenge more than two years ago, on the most part, I do actually find myself enjoying the experience!