As I rounded the final corner to the finishing sprint of the Edinburgh Marathon, something finally made sense to me. I've read countless books and magazine articles on pacing your race, fuelling right and getting the right kit, hungry to know what I needed to do to get better.One piece of advice stuck out at [...]
The first time I'd stood nervously at the start of a race since primary school sports day was in October 2008 for the Wimbledon 10K. I'd started running just six months earliers, first run/walk-ing on a treadmill and then building up to running a mile without stopping outside.The furthest I'd run when I lined up [...]
Refresh the BBC weather page all you want in race week but it isn't going to change a thing. Trust me I've tried. It was a long train ride from London to Edinburgh for the marathon and I wasn't going to let a bit of sun and 24 degree heat stop me from making it [...]
A peculiar thing happens to runners when injured: the urge to run becomes stronger than ever. Runners who put off their long run until the last minute on a Sunday, procrastinating like a teenager avoiding their weekend homework, in the face of the word 'rest' suddenly have an itch that needs scratching and that itch [...]
They're a demanding bunch the gods of the marathon. Not content with taking your weekends, your sofa time and your money they demand more. This weekend I've prayed at the marathon altar and made two significant sacrifices in the hope of marathon glory.Friday night, it was time for a new pair of heels. But black [...]
Getting yourself race ready isn't complicated. Hard, yes. But complicated, no. There's really only three things you need to remember: eat, sleep, run. And so with just 32 days until Edinburgh Marathon I've written myself a post-it as a reminder to take these things seriously.EatRemembering to eat isn't hard, you try and stop me forgetting. [...]
When people hear that I'm running two marathons in the space of six weeks their first response is 'Wow' or 'Rather you than me'. This came about rather by accident than overly confident planning, but now that I'm in the process of training for it I'm less impressed with myself than I was.Training for a [...]
So you didn't get into the 2012 London marathon through the ballot, join me and the thousands of other runners that are feeling a bit miffed at the moment.But it doesn't have to be the end of your marathon dream. Did you know that other marathons in the world actually exist? It's true, I've checked [...]
On day three of my taper I woke up very tired; ducked out of a 3-mile race I'd challenged three much faster, non-tapering colleagues to; and then I did this...Edinburgh marathon 2012, see you Jimmy! London marathon is clearly going to reject me again in October and after Nottingham I'm not going to fancy entering [...]